Chapter 3 - Information Wildfire

Upon the arrival of 'dinner time', the class had been guided to the palace's banquet hall―a place undoubtedly used whenever large gatherings or other important events took place within the royal palace―where they found that a feast had been prepared for them; the cause being, "to celebrate the successful Hero Summoning".

"There must be many worries about you, Heroes, but rest assured. From today onwards, you have joined us, the Kingdom of Seronia―and therefore, we provide you with our full backing, the whole of our support, whatever it may be."

"It has been arduous, and it will continue to be so in the future. Still, we move on; for the people, the country, and the world."

"So, there is no need to fret. It is absolutely natural to feel exhausted. As today, we rest; for tomorrow, we thrive. Always are we adapting and transforming; and always, is it for the better."

At the end of a lengthy speech, Princess Eleanor instructed them with a smile to eat to their heart's content.

"Now. Feast."

Naturally, it was tough for these kids, who had mostly been your run-of-the-mill students up until today, to adapt to the situation. As a result of this, as well as the lingering―growing doubt about whether they would be able to return home, it became incredibly difficult for the majority to feel comfortable mustering a merry atmosphere, even after the princess' hard work.

Be that as it may, they were still human, and thus, hungry. Using the delicious food as a temporary escape from reality, it took a while, but they eventually managed to soften the air enough to relax themselves.

Seeing his classmates and even bruised teacher chowing down around him, Jae’s mood in particular was anything but celebratory.

What a speech... Wasn't she basically trying to claim everyone as part of the kingdom? To hell with that. I'm getting out of here the instant an opportunity presents itself.

He glanced around at everyone in the room as he trepidatiously took a seat at the far-too-long dining table. It didn’t appear as if anyone was bringing up the Status yet, so he could rest easy for now... Or, well, that’s what he was hoping for―As it turns out, there was indeed a certain pair who had found out about it during the prior free time.

They called themselves 'Yamato' and 'Sora', right?

It was difficult for him to subdue the surging cringe inside as he watched two students huddle together, snickering at one end of the absurdly long table.

They hadn’t even a drop of Asian blood in them but had insisted on being called by such names... No, well, perhaps that wasn't entirely correct; after all, that's what their names were officially recorded as in the school registry, so who knows what the reality was? In any case, as someone who enjoyed similar venues of entertainment as the two, Jae couldn’t help but keel over from second-hand embarrassment whenever he saw them.

It was as if his own conscience was being pricked by looking at the two of them, who gave a bad rep to the rest of the community.

Suddenly, his ears perked up at an overheard whisper to the side.

“Hey, hey, did you hear? Apparently, if you say 'Open Status', it-- Huh? Ohh...! Look, you see this?!”

Jae froze.

Slowly turning his head, the exaggerated motions of someone pointing at the empty space in front of them with an amazed expression entered his sight.

...What?

As if having the ‘reset’ button pushed, any and all emotion vanished from Jae’s face. Similar utterances could be heard around him, but he focused on one word in particular.

Status.

Why...?

Glancing around, he quickly realised what had happened. Someone clearly overheard the two aforementioned students and inadvertently found out about the Status Menu, thus leading to a leaking of the secret.

Whether it was discovered before or after entering the banquet hall was unknown, but because everyone was eating at the same table, the information from that point onwards only began to spread among the students like a wildfire amid eucalyptus trees, to the dismay of the two who had selfishly wanted to keep the secret to themselves.

No fucking way...

Jae felt the blood run cold within him as he hurriedly looked around, his mouth gaping. At this point, it would’ve been easier to catch a literal rat sneaking around the royal palace than it was to see those not talking about the details of their own Status.

Alarm bells blared in Jae's head when his classmates began opening their Statuses one by one; their tension high as if confirming their lottery numbers before comparing themselves to their neighbours. He saw no such thing as a silver lining in this situation, but if one were to exist, would it be that no one was close enough to him to confidently pry into what his Status looked like?

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No, but why so soon...?

It’s not like he didn’t understand their excitement, but couldn’t those two have not discussed such an important thing so loudly in such a busy area?

If things continued as they were, they would soon ask him what his Status was like. If he refused, wouldn't they get suspicious?

...No, thinking about it further, wasn't this an inevitability anyway? If he imagined himself to be in the position of someone like the king, who would have ordered the summoning of the Heroes in the first place, then wouldn't he want to confirm what exactly their Status' looked like?

In that case, something like this was bound to happen eventually.

Really, he should have seen it coming.

No, what... Damn it...!

Cursing endlessly to himself internally, Jae started pocketing some of the food on the table before leaving the hall in as natural and sneakily a manner as possible, which, arguably, wasn't very natural or sneaky. Fortunately, everyone was too busy dealing with their own excitement to notice.

It was a shame their school bags didn’t get summoned with them. He couldn’t carry much in just his arms, but that was fine as long as he could leave with something.

Shoving a piece of what was surprisingly delectable bread in his mouth to eat as he left, he had no time to appreciate the taste earnestly forged by the talented palace chefs and hurried out of the hall. Swiftly, he exited the place that might as well have been the gallows; shutting the thick, gold-encrusted doors behind him, he heaved a sigh of relief.

“Fuuu...”

For now, he had escaped...

“Oi. Jae.”

...Or not.

“Yo.”

"......"

It was Ryan.

What the hell is he doing here...?!

Screaming internally, Jae gulped down the bread in his mouth and turned around to face him, hiding his apprehension as best he could.

"Do you need something?”

This was not their first interaction, but it's also not as if the two were close enough to strike up a conversation all of a sudden. If it was anyone else, there could have been a plausible argument that it was because of the bizarre situation in which they found themselves, but considering the other party was Ryan of all people, that was definitely not the case.

What do you want? Haa, man, just go away, please. Seriously, I’m begging you to leave me alone. Just this once, he complained. Ryan, on the other hand, made an expression as if curious; his gaze flickering between the bread in Jae’s arms and his tensed face.

“Huh... No, not particularly... Just wonderin’, but uh... Where’re ya headed? Eatin' time ain't over yet pal, is it?”

Jae desperately wanted to retaliate with something along the lines of “What’s it to you, you bastard?”, but of course, he would never dare to do such a thing; instead, he replied on edge.

“...I could ask you the same thing, but does it matter? I’m just going back to my room.”

Ryan replied with a snort.

“Hah. Right, you can ask. Doesn't mean you'll get an answer, though, right? I'm the one askin' you. So, what? You runnin' away or somethin'? What's with the rations?”

What part of that makes sense...?

Jae had heard more than just a couple of stories from Amelia, his girlfriend, about Ryan. They were in quite a few of the same classes, leading to her having a front-row seat to the frequent spectacles he would put on. From these tales, Jae knew.

There was absolutely nothing to gain from getting close to this guy.

Thus, he ignored him and simply walked away.

"......"

"......"

Eventually, he had had enough when Ryan kept following him as he tried to flee and thus resolved to confront the guy directly.

“...Look, what do you want? I'm not hungry, and besides, you can't even pretend to care about someone else's well-being with the type of crap you've been doing. What is it?”

It's obvious from the fact that he's been using violence on people and stealing shit on the first day here; this guy never has any good intentions for anyone he interacts with.

“Woah. Chill out buddy, did I curse your parents or somethin'? Anyway, did someone accuse me of wantin' somethin'? Not me, that’s for sure. Why're you actin' as if I'd want somethin' from ya? You got somethin' to hide? By the way, you're sure carryin' a lotta food for someone who claims to not be hungry.”

Ryan glanced again between the food in Jae's hand and his face that blankly looked at him with an expression that read 'I know you want something. Just spit it out.’

“...Seems I'm caught, eh? Well, it’s true that I don’t want anythin’ from you, though.”

Ryan continued as a grin surfaced on his face.

“Just curious. After all, you... Ya knew about the ‘Status’ thing before it circulated, didn't ya? How come?”

...It sure passed around quickly, huh... Bastards.

He swore inwardly to teach those two a lesson. After seconds passed, Jae replied with a weak smile, “You know why those two guys knew about it originally? It's nothing special; they probably read about it in a book or saw it in a t.v. series or something. It’s the same for me.”

Ryan’s grin vanished, instead replaced with a frightening glare. He piercingly stared Jae in the eyes, who simply gazed back with the same smile. Internally, however, he was freaking out.

Oh my god, please, what do you want from me? Is he angry? Don’t hit me. Just leave me alone...

Of course, he begged but didn't let it show. He had the feeling that showing weakness to this guy was akin to a death sentence in and of itself, so that was something he really couldn’t afford.

"......"

"......"

How much time passed like this? It was at the very least a minute or two before Ryan finally shrugged and gave up. As if nothing had ever happened, he opened his mouth again, “Although somethin' tells me you got somethin’ to hide... Well, since ya look so miserable, I’ll toss ya some scraps of info.”

Smirking once more, he continued.

“Lucas has a Unique Skill to see other people’s Status. It has a weakness, but... Well, obviously I ain't just givin’ that to ya for free, hah. By the way, you owe me now. I'll let ya know what ya can do to repay me at a later date. Well, see ya.”

Pat pat.

After these parting words, Ryan patted Jae twice on the shoulder and continued laughing ominously to himself as he walked back to his room. Watching his back, which for some reason appeared like that of a mafia boss, Jae thought nervously about what he said even after he left.

No, what, wait... Does Lucas really have a skill to see someone's Status...? Was he in the hall earlier?

He couldn't recall. Of course, Ryan could very well be lying about this information, and he has no reason to tell him such things whether it was true or not. Either way, Jae only thought he should prepare for the worst.

If it is true... If it's true and he takes a look at mine, I’m basically dead, aren't I? Even if he doesn’t report it, telling it to even a single person could make it spread. No, even if he tries to hide it, a single slip of the mouth could end it all...

If Lucas really had the ability to see the Status of others and he glimpsed Jae’s...

In that case...

"......"

His eyes darkened.

I hope... That it doesn’t have to get to that point, but...

A terrible thought sprouted within his mind; something absolutely forbidden.

If worse comes to worst, I might have to--

Slap-!

"...Dreading won't solve anything. I’ll just do what I have to do... Whatever it may be."

It wasn't just himself he needed to survive for, after all.

Casting aside those thoughts for now, Jae walked away with a look of determination in his eyes.