4 – Drawer Spoon (3)
“Hey, spoon.”
As we entered the sync room, the student with the polyhex spoke. He was a tattooed guy who had ink rubbed on his neck.
“Why, the guy with ink on his neck.”
“What… ink…? This guy is really something.”
The moment the guy opened his eyes, it wasn’t scary at all. Song Aram, who used to be my nemesis in middle school, was much scarier.
I wonder if she’s doing well. She used to go to her art academy and scribble all over my gym uniform.
I wish I could go back and give her a good scolding.
Yeah, she was pretty enough for that.
I miss you, Aram.
“Spoon, are you with us right now?”
“Sorry, I got lost in thoughts of my first love for a moment…”
“First love? What the hell are you talking about? Is this guy a total lunatic or what?”
He shook his head in disbelief. It seems he has no intention of sympathizing with my sweet nostalgic love story.
What’s wrong with shedding a tear together?
[Both, perform a final check on the smartwatches and earsets.]
The voice of Instructor Kim Donghak echoed through the ceiling speaker in the sync room.
Following his instructions, I checked the equipment once again.
Smartwatch. A mechanical device that allows you to instantly check planned operations and battle situations.
Earset. A communication device that allows communication with the command center at any time.
Both are in good condition.
[Now, let’s start the practical training. There’s no specific combat goal. Act freely.]
Swoooooosh—
A pathway appeared in the sync room where nothing could be seen, and buildings began to rise.
Soon, a city unfolded before my eyes.
—Kuoooooo!
Of course, a giant monster accompanied it.
“Hey, Spoon. Do you know anything about that monster?”
A body about five floors high. A creature swinging unpleasant tentacles like an octopus.
“I know. Code 47, its name is Bual.”
“Bual? What a damn weird name. So, what rank is it?”
“It’s D rank. And even within that, it’s on the lower end.”
D rank. Think of it as a monster at the tutorial level.
It’s a story when looked at purely from the data.
“D-rank? Are you kidding me? Did I come to this school to deal with such trash? Where are you disrespecting me from?”
The tattooed punk extended his poleaxe and assumed a stance.
Soon, a red light began to swirl around his body.
“Spoon, suck on your fingers.”
Snap─!
He kicked off the ground and leaped forward.
Spoon? Fingers? What the hell is this crappy lime?
If that bastard wasn’t an awakened, how would he have survived?
For now, the rapper is eliminated.
Swoosh─!
Mars’ testicles sensed the movements of the tattooed punk and emitted tentacles.
There were also several tentacles flying towards me.
“Do you think you can catch me with such a lame attack?”
Is he really a barnacle? He was in the middle of a lecture on mutants, and he just charges like that? Can’t he see that there’s a trap?
Boom─!
The tentacles that were flying well suddenly exploded. They self-destructed.
Thin threads shot out from the tentacles.
“No…!”
The threads quickly entwined around the tattooed punk’s body.
With only his head hanging loose, the tattooed punk was bound in a cocoon of threads.
“Darn it…! What is this…!”
Struggling with his entire body, but the threads were securely bound.
The tattooed punk shouted.
“Hey, Spoon! Help! Help!”
“Help is useless. I’m bound too.”
Not only the tattooed punk but I also ended up trapped in threads. Both of us fell victim to a D-rank Mars without any resistance.
The classroom must have turned into a sea of laughter by now.
“You useless jerk…!”
“I’ll say that. What kind of hunter behavior is it to blindly charge without considering the situation on-site? Even our mother doesn’t do that. Of course, she’s not here.”
“Stop the bullsh*t and figure out something quickly…!”
The tattooed guy was not in a combat-ready state. He had dropped his weapon, the poleax, and his entire body was tightly bound.
It wasn’t a situation where much could be done.
But I could.
There was still a spoon in my hand.
It wasn’t as grandiose a weapon as the poleax, so there was no need to drop it dramatically.
Let’s give it a try.
Ssshh…
Focus. I decided to exert force on the spoon, just as I did in the room.
It’s all about imagination.
This small spoon.
More than anything, enlarged.
Enough to easily pierce through this thread.
Bang!
Soon, the spoon pierced through the iron-like fixer and protruded its head. Simultaneously, the thread that bound my body lost its strength and fell to the ground.
“The spoon… is getting bigger…?”
The tattooed guy seemed quite surprised, widening his eyelids. His face looked genuinely shocked.
“Don’t underestimate the spoon. This is a magic wand. It can easily crush a Herman Miller desk worth millions.”
Hukhuk. At that moment, a voice flowed out from the speaker.
[Situation resolved. You can return to the classroom now, Shin Yoon-seong.]
“I’ll go first.”
“Hey, Spoon! I… I should take you out too before leaving!”
“I didn’t hear anything about you returning.”
I casually ignored the words and decided to leave the synchronization room.
“Hey! Spoon! Sppoooon!”
That day, the tattooed guy remained trapped inside the fixer throughout the lecture. Instructor Kim Dong-hak didn’t release him until the end.
As if seeking revenge for what had happened earlier.
I thought he wasn’t like that, but turns out he was a subtly vindictive gentleman.
***
After the morning lecture, I went to the student cafeteria for lunch. Once again, I went to the table where Arna was.
“Ugh… Why again?”
“Can’t we just have a meal together? Why are you so repulsed?”
“Have you forgotten everything you’ve done to me so far?”
“Yesterday’s me and today’s me are different. I just want to eat now.”
He placed the plate on the table. The lunch menu was spicy stir-fried pork, a manly dish cooked without soup.
“Will you try a bite?”
“Fine…”
There were slices of pepper on the spicy pork, which might be a bit too spicy for foreigners. Still, it’s not bad when eaten with lettuce wraps.
“I saw your performance in the sink room earlier. That spoon, it wasn’t an ordinary spoon.”
Arna stared intently at my rice spoon. It was the same spoon I used during the lecture earlier.
Just in case, I’m using it after washing it thoroughly.
“There’s nothing to boast about my performance. I just cast a little magic.”
“If you could fight like that… why did you stay quiet when we had the evaluation matches? Every time.”
How would I know that? Shin Yoonsung is just a third-rate villain. I haven’t set the details yet.
And I’ve just unlocked my skills.
I should just vaguely explain it to Arna for now; it’ll only hurt my pride if I go into detail.
“That pork cutlet looks quite delicious.”
“Yes…?”
Arna chose pork cutlet for lunch.
It was a Western-style pork cutlet with wide pieces of meat, white rice, cabbage salad, and macaroni all on one plate.
“Don’t do anything strange like last time!”
Arna defended the plate.
It reminded me of when she poured kimchi stew into the ox bone soup.
“I promise. I won’t do anything strange.”
“Hmm…”
Arna narrowed her eyes. It was a look that seemed to be contemplating whether to trust me or not.
“Then just one bite.”
Scratch, scratch. Arna began to cut the pork cutlet with a knife and fork. Soon, she offered me a bite.
“Thank you.”
The pork cutlet, like the spicy pork, was delicious. The student cafeteria here is surprisingly good at cooking. With this, any thoughts of dropping out disappeared completely.
Pod─!
─── Quest ───
: Villain’s Duty
: Startle Arna Kristindottir.
Quest completion reward: ＜SP Point 1＞, ＜Arna’s overall stats increase by 1＞
───
Just as I was enjoying my meal, a quest window appeared. It wasn’t much different from the previous one. It was a quest to bother Arna.
From Noble mtl dot com
What should I do about this? I feel a little guilty to bother her right after enjoying my tonkatsu.
But I have no choice.
It’s a precious opportunity to increase the protagonist Arna’s abilities.
This is also a path for Arna.
Arna, I’m willing to sacrifice whatever it takes for you to become stronger. It’s the meaning of Shin Yoon-seong’s existence.
Please, protect this world with your strength.
Absolutely, don’t you dare give in to my SP Points.
Anyway, no.
Carefully.
Humbly, Arna was diligently cutting the tonkatsu. Cutting them into bite-sized pieces.
“You’re the type who cuts everything before eating.”
“Yes, it’s more convenient that way.”
“Hmph, how lacking in foundation. Will you also cut each piece of steak before eating?”
“Why do you care how others eat?”
It seems this level of annoyance won’t work. It required a certain skill to annoy someone.
If this doesn’t work, I’ll have to resort to more drastic methods.
“Hello, Arna! Enjoy your lunch!”
“Yes, please enjoy.”
Arna exchanged greetings with a passing student. It was my chance to create an opening.
I quickly reached out with my spoon. Towards the plate of tonkatsu.
“Arna, you don’t eat a light meal tonkatsu like that. Let me show you the proper way to eat.”
“Yes…?”
Clatter, clatter.
I vigorously stirred the plate with a spoon. Donkatsu, rice, cabbage salad, and macaroni mixed well with each other.
This is Korean-style Donkatsu, seasoned to perfection.
“Kiyaaah! What are you doing to my rice right now?”
Arna screamed loudly as she witnessed the food being messed up.
Quest, a great success.
Of course, what followed was hell.