I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

As soon as we entered the Rift, the first thing I did was stop Alkiné, who was about to bolt.

“Let’s split up. I’ll go left, so you…”

“Wait, President. We’re going together.”

She had such a hasty personality. What was I supposed to do if she went alone?

“We need to clear this quickly, so wouldn’t it be better to split up?”

“Usually, that’s true. But not right now.”

“Why not?”

“It’s hard to explain, just wait and see.”

Saying that, I subtly glanced around.

Inside a giant cave, light was seeping in through a crack in the ceiling, so it wasn’t dark at all.

And there… the path ahead split into two.

Ah, so that’s why she said to split up. If there are two paths, it’s faster to search if we split.

But there was no need.

Didn’t I mention before? There’s speedrunning in this game.

If even the distorted Rift can be cleared quickly by finding the rules, think about how much easier a normal Rift would be.

Of course, the map is randomly generated depending on the Rift’s location… but if you memorize it completely, there’s no problem.

“Just trust me and follow.”

Since she followed me for the contribution points, what’s the point in taking the bus?

Don’t ignore the pride of an experienced player who must hear the ‘Wow, that’s awesome!’ from the newbies.

It was time for the results of my obsessive memorization of the maps from the Student Council Rift to shine.

…Actually, I was planning on keeping my map memorization a secret and casually do some contribution work, but this was an emergency, so…

I began to run at the maximum speed I could muster, utilizing dash cancels.

Alkiné’s expression was full of questions as she followed my speed, but I didn’t have a way to explain, so I stayed silent.

The current map was one of the easier ones I had memorized.

It was a maze-like Rift made up of continuous forks, but like every maze, if you memorize the paths, you can clear it faster than anywhere else.

Plus, here the core’s location is fixed, so I could move with even greater confidence.

Starting from the beginning: left-right-right-left-right-left-left.

Then, if a Minotaur is blocking the massive door that appears, it’s right-left-right-right-left-right-left-right. If it’s a golem type, it’s right-right-left-left-right-left-right-left.

This is the shortest route to the core of the Rift.

Of course, even if you go a different way, you’ll reach the core if you avoid dead ends, but it’ll take forever to get there.

In fact, there’s no chance to just stumble upon the core by luck.

…If I hadn’t memorized this map, I would have been stuck in a rampage for sure. The map selection is truly malicious.

As I continued on, the monsters started to appear, but every single one that approached was swiftly dealt with by Alkiné, so we never even had to stop.

With just a light swing of her mana sword, the monsters blocking our way flew away like fallen leaves.

“It’s been a while since I’ve moved so smoothly.”

Alkiné spoke with a refreshingly gleeful expression.

Well, can you blame her? Despite being capable of soloing the Rift, she was only using her strength to support the Student Council’s experiences.

I’m sure it’s been a long time since she got involved in an actual raid like this.

Thinking about it, it’s imbalanced on her own.

Even if the whole Student Council charged, they wouldn’t stand a chance against just Alkiné. It’s really terrifying.

As I continued to run, we arrived at a massive door before I knew it.

And what appeared was… a Minotaur.

There was no need to check which one it was.

“Graaaaaaark!”

Before it could even let out a roar, Alkiné had already cut it down.

Its body, which looked like it was at least 5m tall, was neatly sliced in half and lay sprawled on the ground.

…Seriously, that’s absurdly strong. Isn’t that basically cheating?

As I admired her strength, Alkiné pointed at the massive door and asked.

“What should we do about that?”

“Since we took down the gatekeeper, it should open soon.”

Almost as soon as I said that, the closed door began to open.

Once the inside revealed what looked like a temple, Alkiné frowned slightly and asked,

“Are we there yet?”

“We have a bit to go.”

“Hmm, really? For a place that’s supposed to be far, it looks quite relaxed.”

This wasn’t relaxed; it was a state of transcendence.

While the Rift showed signs of rampaging, it was impossible to tell how long it would be before it actually went berserk.

It could happen at any moment, or maybe it could remain the same for days.

If luck ran out, it could explode right before we clear it.

Knowing this, I stayed focused on what we could do right now instead of being pressed by time… but Alkiné wouldn’t know that.

“Let’s just hurry up. That’s not what’s important right now, is it?”

I decided to just brush past her comment.

After advancing for some time, we finally reached the last fork.

Going left from here would take us straight to the core.

But….

“Kirruuk! Kireek!”

A monster was blocking the way ahead.

It was larger than the typical monster, too.

“Rudion, that’s….”

“Yes, it’s a Giant Wyvern.”

If a normal wyvern is about the size of a car, then this one was as big as a three-story building.

So, our path was completely blocked.

“Should we try taking it down first?”

I said that, but it wasn’t a good idea after all.

Swoosh-!

Unlike the monsters we faced thus far, it was incredibly tough.

That said, Alkiné’s attack didn’t get stopped, but at least it wasn’t instant death like the previous ones.

But then….

“It’s regenerating.”

“Seriously, this is ridiculous.”

It seemed to have regenerative abilities, returning to its original state in an instant.

That meant I just poked the hornet’s nest for no reason.

“Kirruuur!! Kireek!!!”

Now, it seemed like we had no choice but to take it down properly.

“President. Are you ready?”

“Of course. What should I do?”

However… Alkiné didn’t seem that tense given the situation.

On the contrary, her eyes sparkled as if she was really enjoying it.

Even if she pretended to be proper, the blood of the north didn’t lie.

And how naturally she passed the command to me… this is your job, lady.

But it was better than ending up in a situation where I had to attack following Alkiné’s commands.

“I’ll go and draw its aggro. Focus your attacks on its weak points. Oh, and since the space is narrow, it can’t fly, so no need to focus on its wings.”

“Efficient.”

“With no time to waste, there’s no need for inefficiency.”

As the wyvern charged at us, we couldn’t continue our conversation any further.

Alkiné and I sprinted in opposite directions. I ran toward the wyvern, while Alkiné moved away.

Seeing me approach, the wyvern swung its sharp claws, which I easily dodged.

Next, it swung its tail, a pattern I could parry, so I did.

Clang!

With the sharp sound of a parry, the wyvern’s body was slightly pushed back.

Since it was so big, it didn’t fall over, but a brief opening was created.

However, Alkiné wouldn’t miss that opportunity.

Smack!

In an instant, she closed the distance, plunged her mana sword into the wyvern’s jaw, and began running along its body.

“Kieeeek!!!”

It was regenerating at an alarming speed as she slashed, but it let out a painfully anguished scream.

No matter how good the regeneration, it still felt pain, so damage was definitely stacking.

Alkiné ignored the thrashing and continued to charge, slashing through its right flank and the center of its tail before she finally jumped back and created some distance.

The wyvern’s weak points were the jaw, the right flank, and the center of the tail… and she managed to strike all of them at once the moment a chance arose.

She really fights well. These moves are something you’d never see in a game, only in cutscenes, and it’s impressive.

After a sequence of about five of those attacks, the wyvern finally stopped moving.

“That was surprisingly easy.”

Alkiné remarked while eyeing the now lifeless wyvern with a tinge of disappointment. How could she have held back with such a love for fighting?

If we searched around here, more monsters of similar strength would appear, but in this situation, we couldn’t waste time on that.

We’d satisfy her craving for battle another time. For now, we had to handle the Rift.

We had to quickly go smash the core.

///

As I walked through the forest behind the Student Council’s building, I soon reached the Rift’s source.

Before me was the Rift that looked like it could explode at any moment, but frankly, that didn’t seem to matter much right now.

Rift or not, it felt like my guts were about to burst.

“What the hell? What did that jerk do that made the president….”

I hadn’t liked him from the start.

Up until now, whenever she brought someone along, she always asked for my opinion, but this guy? She brought him along without a word.

Back then, I couldn’t, not wanting to go against her wishes—but I felt like I was going to be sick.

That was why I suggested having him participate in the Rift raid.

To show this guy, who had beaten even Grain, the reality check, and reduce the president’s interest in him.

I had never dreamed she’d actually accept it…

‘What a dumb decision.’

I shouldn’t have made that offer.

No matter how good he is, he’s just a rookie who just entered the Academy.

To her, he wouldn’t even be worth a toenail’s attention. She wouldn’t care about some new student.

She, who paid no mind to me despite holding an important position in the Student Council, wouldn’t possibly pay attention to a newbie.

I thought so until he was given the position of secretary.

…Shit. Why?

The reality was, she never would have allowed someone to endanger others if she was being kind-hearted.

I should’ve been suspicious from the moment she accepted him.

What did he do to earn her interest?

I didn’t know. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out why she was interested in him.

Why did she have to take an interest in such a nobody?

She’s mine. My Alkiné with whom I’ve spent three years in the Academy.

Our connection isn’t so flimsy that she could be swayed by some nobody.

I was thinking that, but why was she choosing him over me?

Today was the same. In this situation, she actually said she would take him inside instead of me.

If it was about strength, I could have been the stronger one, and for exploring, Grain would’ve been a better choice.

It made no sense to take him. Really, not at all.

Where did it all go wrong?

Was it that I couldn’t stop him from joining the Student Council?

Was it that I urged him to raid the Rift to crush his confidence?

I didn’t know, and that only made my insides churn.

But all I could do now was wait.

They had already gone into the Rift, and at this point, even if I jumped in after them, I wouldn’t reach her.

I could only wait for everything to end and hope she would return to me.

I thought somehow I could endure, but what returned was only betrayal.

“Oh man, that was close. Are you okay, president?”

“…Let’s discuss this after you put me down since you’ve seen everything.”

The Rift that had seemed ready to explode had disappeared, and at long last, she showed up.

But… she was in that guy’s arms.

As if it was so natural.

The moment I saw that…

“…That bastard.”

Something snapped in my mind.

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