I Became an Extra Without Growth in the Academy

Right now, there wasn’t a Rift in the game, but I wasn’t too flustered.

I don’t know how others feel, but I’m the type who always expects new updates whenever I scrape the game clean, so I take that into account while playing.

And I had thought about this new format of the Rift to some extent.

‘Even though they call it new, it’s just a rehash of existing content.’

Even if new content arises from updates, since it ultimately comes from the same game, some degree of monotony is unavoidable.

On top of that, it wasn’t even something completely new; it mixed existing elements?

With already sufficient prior knowledge, and knowing the original map structure inside out, I could easily figure out some strategies.

Even if many factors are combined, they probably wouldn’t completely break the original rules.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the strategies would be easy.

No matter how much it’s a rehash, it’s still new. And the fact that I know nothing at the moment is a reality.

And… that’s where Grain comes in.

I might have had enough prior knowledge, but in the end, this was a call for help. How uncool.

Well, hey, isn’t helping what we live for?

I asked Grain, who approached me, to activate her ability.

That… a bit excessively so.

“…What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to identify what structures are present in this direction. Let’s say a hundred or so, just to be safe.”

“Do you understand my ability?”

“Of course.”

Her bewildered reaction was perfectly normal.

If she understood the abilities she possessed, she would never have received such an instruction.

Grain’s ability [Observer of All Things Proving Existence].

Her nickname is ‘Sauron’s Eye.’

As you can tell by the grandiose name and title, it wasn’t just an ability used for exploration.

However, activating her ability too deeply would open a path to Grain’s corruption, making practical use beyond a certain level virtually impossible.

Saying it was ‘exploration specialized’ was an understatement.

Anyway, aside from that risk, objectively speaking, her ability was far beyond being considered overpowered.

Basically, anything that wasn’t detected or analyzed by her could be deemed non-existent.

This applied to visible matter, of course, as well as invisible energies like magical powers.

She could even identify components of liquids and air, which didn’t particularly need to be seen.

She lived in a world that was incredibly scientific… Something I, a humanities major, could hardly wrap my head around.

So as long as she was there, I wouldn’t have to worry about being blindsided by anything. Everything would be visible to her.

Right now, the only thing that seemed undetectable was my evasion or parrying. But, well, I’ll let that slide.

Also, due to the nature of her ability, she could gain a vague understanding of things outside her knowledge when observing them.

I’m not quite sure what it feels like, as I’ve only read the description, but it surely means her practical performance would be quite high.

Reading the problematic hints serves as a makeshift cheating sheet provided by her ability.

Beyond that, there’s an utterly ridiculous power where, simply by manifesting her ability, she could grasp and manipulate everything around her, but using it to that extent would be considered corrupted, and even a few seconds of use would melt her brain away, making it not worth discussing.

Of course, that doesn’t mean using her ability in a normal manner doesn’t burden her brain.

Right now, hasn’t Seria’s state deteriorated due to her magic?

The human brain naturally only processes the amount of information it can handle. Otherwise, it would lead to overload.

But Grain’s ability forcibly shoves in information beyond its limits, so it’s no wonder her head would hurt.

That’s why she’s always cautious and wary about meeting new people.

She has no idea what kind of abilities someone may possess… and whether she can actually handle that information.

Wasn’t she against me joining the Student Council at first? This was all the reason behind it.

…That was a long-winded explanation, but in the end, that’s the conclusion.

What I requested of her would put a significant strain on her brain, and thus she couldn’t execute it.

Yeah, I get it. To take in a hundred scattered objects in her head, she’d have to observe an enormous range.

If she tried to cram that wide of a range into her brain in an empty space, she’d probably faint right there; and inside a Rift, where danger lurked, she might just lose her mind if luck wasn’t on her side.

What I meant was that she’d have to perceive it like I was saying, ‘Just shove a bomb in your head and blow it up.’

But there’s always a way.

“In fact, you know the way to do that, don’t you?”

“…How do you know that….”

If utilizing her ability puts a strain on her brain, wouldn’t it be better not to use her brain in the first place?

Considering her power is essentially underutilized, we’d just be laying more burden on it, like using a CPU.

This method was indeed feasible.

It was a gameplay mechanic that even explained the principles of this in the game.

Since it was established that Grain understood the method as soon as she gained her ability, there was no need to explain anything.

“You should transfer all the burdens of your ability onto the ability itself from now on.”

“…How much do you know about my ability? I’ve never told you.”

“There’s a way to know everything.”

“That’s a bit scary. Well, I knew you had many secrets.”

However, she showed hesitation while saying that.

Of course. There were significant issues with this method.

If she forcefully uses her ability like a CPU, it’s recognized as a connection to reality, opening a ‘door.’

And if she can’t stop her ability from trying to escape… Grain would be devoured by her own ability and would fall into corruption.

A living ability… That’s how you can think of it.

Though there’s no dedicated story for Grain, so I’m not entirely sure, she likely tried this method when she first obtained her ability and almost got eaten.

That’s why she’s steering clear of this method.

“I understand your worries. But please, just trust me this once.”

But it couldn’t have been all just dangerous for me to suggest it in the first place.

“Can I really trust you?”

“Of course. Please, just focus on identifying the structures like I asked.”

“What do you mean don’t worry… Can I really trust you?”

Yet, she kept repeating the same question, seemingly unable to shake off her doubts, so I decided to take drastic measures.

“Wow, have you just been fooled all this time? If something goes wrong, I’ll gather all my assets and all of Seria’s to make it up to you.”

“…Wait a minute. Rudion? Why are you putting my entire fortune on the line too?”

“Fine. If you say so, then I’ll trust you.”

While Seria sneaked in a comment about my gamble without consent, the atmosphere allowed me to brush it aside.

Anyway, since I went that far, it seems Grain reluctantly accepted.

“Then, let’s do this.”

“Yes. I’m counting on you.”

Her eyes closed. But those were just physical eyes; her true eye couldn’t be concealed by eyelids.

In the next moment, I was engulfed in the illusion that something was watching me.

Front, sides, back. Even above my head and below my feet. The sensation of being scrutinized made the hairs on my body stand up for a moment.

She seemed to feel the same way, as Seria approached me with a look of confusion.

“R-Rudion? What is this…?”

“It’s Grain-senpai’s serious mode.”

Her maximum point, where she offloads all calculations to her ability and can recognize everything.

But now… with side effects involved.

Rumble-Rumble-

Suddenly, a huge hole opened up in the air, and a bizarre octopus-like monster, that seemed straight out of the Cthulhu mythos, began to crawl out.

Not that it was actually related to Cthulhu; you could just think of it as the form in which her ability materializes.

It slowly crept out towards Grain, who had her eyes closed.

“…Is it really okay? Am I really supposed to maintain this?”

“Yes, just focus on what I asked.”

Of course, I had zero intentions of letting it reach Grain.

I immediately drew my sword and slashed at the tentacle that was trying to wrap around Grain.

Whoosh-!

The tentacle exploded.

That’s right. This is precisely why I confidently asked her to use her ability.

This octopus… If I parry its tentacle, it simply gets removed. It’s all a parrying gimmick!

Is its very existence an ability? Just touching it grants a parry success judgement, so there’s no need to even time it.

Its target is Grain, so it poses no threat to me. It’s just a matter of clearing away the tentacles that come near!

Squirm-Squirm-Squirm.

“Ew, so gross.”

But the visual terror was rather severe.

It had numerous tentacles sticking out of a mass that appeared to be about three meters long.

It looked acceptable in the game, but seeing it like this makes it truly disgusting.

But what can I do? It’s the method I chose.

‘Why is there no taste nor smell?’

Thinking optimistically, I faced the multitude of handshake requests from the octopus monster.

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