Effort Is Always Rewarded, but the Form It Takes

The first bite, crisp and crunchy.

And the hot, savory oil and juices seeping out between them.

I’m eating chicken for the first time in two weeks, too.

And yet just the smell makes my mouth water.

Then what about Aris?

"This... this is seriously to die for...!"

After buying the chicken, I sprinted up the mountain at full speed.

And Gomi can run at over 50 kilometers an hour.

It took less than thirty minutes for it to be delivered.

On top of that, the inventory's time flow was twenty times faster.

In actual elapsed time, it was only a minute and thirty seconds.

It was still steaming hot.

All of that was for this scene.

It had definitely been sixty seconds since I gave her the drumstick.

Aris still couldn’t shake off the afterglow of that freshly fried drumstick.

"What do you think! The culmination of modern technology!"

This wasn't just blind patriotic hype.

It started with Hood's fried chicken and made its way all the way to Korea.

It was the very epitome of cutting-edge culinary culture!

"H-Hold on... one more..."

I gladly handed her another piece of chicken.

This time, it was a chicken breast.

Contrary to common misconception, freshly fried chicken breast has its own charms.

You tear into the moist, spicy-brined chicken breast before the moisture can escape.

Tender flesh tearing along the grain beneath the rippling crust.

The retained moisture brought out the flavor of the meat to the fullest, while the crispy texture layered on top.

"Mmm...! Mmmmm!!"

As expected, anyone tasting chicken for the first time loses their mind.

It's like eating chicken for the first time in your life.

This was nothing short of a one-sided assault on the taste buds.

It was a fight you couldn't possibly win in the first place.

But no matter how moist the fried chicken breast was...

There was nothing to be done about that greasy, salty finish to the batter.

"But the most familiar thing is often the right answer."

It was ice-cold cola.

I even bought ice packs and wrapped it up just for this.

Its crispness and sweetness completely washed away the greasiness and salt.

Aris took a sip, then another of the cola I handed her, and then...

"Kyaa!!"

She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a little cry of delight.

Then she met my teasing grin and blushed.

"Heh-heh."

"D-don’t laugh at me!"

"Heehee."

"D-d-don’t make that weird laughing noise!"

"Hurry up and open it."

I popped open my own cola.

"Ah, this calls for beer."

I don't go there often either.

It's a place in the neighborhood famous for frying chicken well.

I only got away with it today because, by modern standards, it was a weekday, not a holiday.

"A-alcohol is not allowed! Because Yumia is still young!"

"No, how old do you think I am?"

You’d have to eat tteokguk at least ten more times than the age you think I am.

You’re only about two years from being an adult yourself.

Sigh, I lose.

I opened the chicken box.

"Eating a full meal like this... inside the dorms... is against the rules..."

"It’s fine. If we leave the door open, the smell will air out anyway."

The living room and bedroom were separate anyway.

Like last time, we laid the food out on the table and started eating.

Aris seemed to find even a single piece of chicken too precious to waste, nibbling as she tore into it.

But there wasn't enough of a portion for Aris to justify opening another one.

And I'd already eaten, so I wasn't up for an entire chicken.

Aris asked while eating.

"Where on earth do you get food like this, Yumia?"

"Huh?"

"And preserved so it looks freshly made, too. Is that your unique magic as well?"

"Uh... yeah, something like that."

"Is this food from Gyeonggi-do too?"

"More precisely, it's Korean food."

More precisely, it's food from Earth... well, there's no need to explain that far.

"Every time I see you, Yumia, you seem like a person from another world."

"I am a person from another world, though."

I told her the truth outright.

"Huh?"

I could hear Aris's brain turning.

Then she came to her own conclusion.

"Is there a warp portal around here or something? One that connects to another continent?"

"...Well, sort of."

It really was sort of similar.

Except it led to another world, not another continent.

"Wow! I'd love to go there sometime."

I tore into my own drumstick and muttered absentmindedly.

"Ah. Maybe I should visit where I used to live."

It's been quite a while since I last went.

The Reinhart dormitory was so big and cozy that I'd forgotten.

Honestly, the dorm was about a thousand times better, so I didn't feel like going back.

And I no longer needed to live that hard, either.

"What was the place you lived in like, Yumia?"

Aris asked.

How should I even describe this?

"Hmm. First of all, it’s ridiculously spacious, and there’s no hot water."

"Do you normally call that a house?"

No, there are probably plenty of houses in this world without hot water either.

You just don't know it, Aris.

"Well, there was a place to sleep and a place to eat, so I guess it was fine."

Anyway, even as a compliment, it wasn't a good house.

It was a place we’d cobbled together by scraping together everything we had.

Though there were quite a few issues if you were to call it suitable for living.

"Forget it, let's stop talking about houses."

"Would you like to come to my house sometime?"

"Huh? I can go?"

Come to think of it, I'd never been outside Reinhart.

It sounded like it would be a good experience, so I did want to go.

"Instead, I’d like to visit the house where Yumia used to live once."

"Well... you can come, I guess."

I wasn't sure if I could actually go for real, though.

It would be nice if she could come, though.

And while I’m at it, maybe I can stuff her into the tower and climb it together.

If I could party with a good healer too, it'd be perfect.

There are floors in the tower dedicated to party play.

'There has to be one on Hell difficulty too...'

"I hope I can take you with me too."

I answered without thinking, then suddenly had a thought.

Wait.

But putting me aside, what about the Kakterarian sleeping in my inventory?

Didn't it come through normally?

"...Huh?"

Should I really give party play a shot?

The inventory clearly said 'hostile lifeforms' could not be stored.

Then doesn't that mean friendly lifeforms can be stored?

And just then, I had a bit of extra space.

Enough to comfortably store one or two people.

You could even cram in the lanky Karnarov if you forced it.

'...Should I really try it?'

***

"Wow... this really does stretch it out that much...!"

Aris and I were on our way to submit our thick stacks of paper to Karnarov.

You could call it a basic attack magic practice assignment, but really it was a crazy-thick report assignment.

"I really didn't expect it to turn out like that."

The magic assignment submission form.

It was a form that got simpler the higher the number, with Type 1 being an extremely complicated form used almost nowhere except in laboratories.

That Type 1 form.

We were told to submit it in that format.

According to the submission manual.

[experiment date and time, experimenter, experimental environment, experiment date, experiment location, mana density at the experiment site, the formula to be proven in the experiment, all prior knowledge about the formula, wand specifications, result analysis, follow-up magical research]

We had to write every single one in meticulous detail, and even the postscript said:

[Even for a very simple experiment, if you can't fill two pages completely, check whether you may be writing it incorrectly.]

It said that, so there was no way around it—I had to fill pages and pages.

'I really almost died.'

Casting magic ten times a day was nothing.

What mattered more was figuring out why it worked.

Proving what effect this formula had on magic.

That alone was crazy enough.

Karnarov seemed determined to work me to the bone.

'You will write your reports while always changing the experiment location and mana density. Change the incantation and mana infusion pattern once every three days as well.'

"No, that's unfair..."

"I gave the same task to the top student as well. Think of it as a special assignment given only to the top and second-ranked students."

Karnarov wore a sinister smile as he said that.

'This bastard... is enjoying this...!'

I'd done it enough times to know.

This was the face of someone enjoying sanctioned torment...!

Thanks to that, an already brutal assignment became several times more brutal.

If you succeed perfectly, you only need to write down the reasons for your success.

And I was always confident I'd succeed perfectly.

Changing the mana density and experiment location wasn't bad.

I just had to recalculate.

"It is a good assignment. It is, but..."

But constantly changing the incantation and mana input pattern was truly insane.

My skills improved exponentially, but my mind was worn down.

"At least he spared weekends and holidays, so that's a relief..."

Even with Aris helping, last week barely had any afternoons.

At least it was a relief that the assignments were from Kakterarian and Imperial History.

By now, the Kakterarian would just roll over and show its belly the moment it saw me.

And I just didn't do Imperial History.

Honestly, I didn't need grades anyway.

As long as I didn't have to retake that damned basic magic class, it was fine.

Aris and I submitted ours for now.

Karnarov skimmed Aris's and my assignments and said,

"Checked. Come to think of it, only you two and a handful of others properly followed the submission format. Tsk. And you can't even manage that."

Hm.

Maybe I shouldn't have followed it at all.

I could have ridden along on everyone else's coattails.

As I walked out, I could hear the other students talking.

"I just winged it and patched the rest with upperclassmen's reports."

"Does that really make any sense?"

A shiver ran through me.

'Th-there's a method like that...!'

My brain had gone stiff, so I hadn't even thought of such a sly method.

Should I have done that too?

I think I worked too hard.

"W-what do you mean!"

But Aris said it to them, bristling.

She seemed angry that several days' worth of effort was being dismissed.

"Honestly, it doesn’t make sense."

"Yeah. The semester just started, Karnarov gets involved, and you think this amount of homework makes sense?"

"Grrr...!"

The two of them pressed forward with grim expressions.

But I understood their feelings all too well.

No, I even sympathized.

Mm-mm. It really doesn’t make sense.

You guys go tell him.

I cheered them on strongly in my heart.

"Yeah. Let's tell Karnarov. This is too much."

"Does it even make sense to use Type 1, which is for researchers, in the first place?"

Okay.

A few more students joined in and pushed Aris further.

Public opinion had turned.

Aris looked like she was on the verge of tears.

'Sorry, Aris.'

I need them.

'Honestly, I'm too scared to do it myself.'

I recalled the monstrous mana that had been rippling off Karnarov.

Go head-on against Karnarov when I hadn't even climbed the tower much yet?

I'd be confident of getting wiped out in three seconds.

But if they gathered the students' voices, it'd be different.

'Come on! Go! Beyond there!'

Go to Karnarov, vent your complaints, and crash and burn spectacularly!

Hurl your dreams and hopes at Karnarov!

I won't forget your sacrifice!

Then either the assignments or you guys will die!

But then, I heard someone's voice from the opposite side.

"What's this? Complaints from a bunch of riffraff who couldn't even do this assignment properly."

"What... Ca, Carter?"

50 silver... no.

It was Robert Carter.

He was the one who had handed me fifty silver and offered me a contract.

When he delivered a cutting remark, his waxed, slicked-back hair gleaming, public opinion flipped in an instant.

Aris suddenly had far more people on her side.

Aris, who had suddenly become something like the representative of the diligent, looked flustered.

"Right. You should know how to work hard yourself."

"What's so great about copying someone else's work?"

"Even if ours aren't perfect, at least we did them ourselves."

"Whaa?"

That bastard snatched the scraps left over after I turned mine in.

Then he held them up to the kids who had gathered around before I knew it.

"Look at the second-place student's report here. Even just the scraps make it obvious, don't they?"

They looked at my report.

Data I couldn't use because, even after I poured my free time into it, it still didn't meet the standard.

Karnarov had set very strict standards for me and the top student.

So I had no choice but to throw them away, tears of blood and all.

"Th-that...?"

"You have to put in that much effort to be second place."

"N-no."

Wait a second.

Something's going strangely wrong!

No! That's just Karnarov's trickery!

Regardless, they cheered when they saw my blood and sweat.

"As expected of second place!"

"The youngest mage to take down a werewolf!"

"So the rumors that you wander around drunk off your ass were all nonsense after all!"

"Yumia! Yumia! Yumia! Yumia!"

Robert grinned at me.

"As expected, I was right to take another look at you, Yumia. You didn't get this far on talent alone."

I grabbed the back of my neck.

Why!

Why is it turning out like this!!