I returned to the dormitory and quickly started thinking.
First of all, even if I fail, I won't die.
That means it's a proposal that's acceptable even if it fails.
But judging from the unlucky title of Route 2, this is clearly a path similar to the Chapter 1 proposal failure route, *"Even a blind chicken can sometimes find grain"*, so there's no need to deliberately buy into a negative path.
'And it'd be a shame to miss the reward.'
I summoned the proposal window again.
It says to make my health score reach 0 within a week.
Seeing as the reward is openly dangled, it probably doesn't mean a 0 boosted by a potion or artifact, but a pure 0.
'How should I go about this.'
If I blindly pour all my time into training, there's a high chance I'll just waste time.
I need to think and move smartly.
'The timing of the proposal appearing is a bit suspicious.'
The proposal appeared right after Leo showed me the medicinal ingredients.
That means the success or failure of this proposal depends on whether I succeed in turning Poison into an enhancer.
Just like how the skill category encompasses countless things like studying, reading, and training, health is the same.
Unless I'm manipulating stats directly by receiving points as a reward, the items in the Status window merely *represent* my condition—they don't determine it.
In other words, even if I strengthen my core and reach health 0, it doesn't mean my physical strength jumps from negative to zero.
'But it does create a foundation that lets me exercise longer with improved core efficiency.'
That's why I need a potion.
If I train every day at my current intensity, it wouldn't just be difficult to reach 0 within a week—it'd be hard even before midterms.
But if I train while strengthening my core, that changes things. The maximum amount of time I can train itself increases.
So making the potion is only the beginning. To succeed in this proposal, my own effort must follow as well.
Since it's come to this, should I go hunting one more time and order an elixir?
No.
I quickly shook my head.
Assuming the effect of Poison is converted directly into a positive direction, to buy an elixir with the same potency, I'd have to hunt for several more days unless I ran into that wolf again.
Whether I invest time to buy an elixir or invest time to make an enhancer, if the result is the same…
'It's better to try something that'll benefit me more in the long run while I'm at it.'
The next morning, after stopping by my homeroom professor's office, I arrived at the classroom.
"Did you all read the notes?"
I smiled and handed the notes to the students. They stared down at them with pale faces.
"...."
"…You don't really have to return them…"
"Yeah, Lukas. You can borrow them longer. We know you're not extorting our notes."
"What are you talking about? Midterms are only a month away. You all need to study too. Hurry up and get ready to write."
I gestured toward the notes, then packed my bag and stood up from my seat.
"Looks like class is about to start. Work hard."
"Huh?"
The students' eyes filled with confusion as they looked at me.
Who leaves the classroom saying class is about to start? One student cautiously voiced that doubt.
"Where are you going…?"
"I think I caught a bit of a chill since dawn yesterday. I got permission from the professors, so don't worry."
"What? Then what about the notes?"
I shook my head at the student's question and smiled.
"Why do you think I came here on a day I'm absent?"
"...."
"Thanks again today. See you at six."
Smiling, I lightly tapped the students on the shoulders and left the classroom.
***
Chill my ass. There's nothing like that.
The moment I arrived at my room, I quickly laid out my experimental tools.
I took everything off the desk, but when I reached a small animal, my hand stopped.
'…?'
What is this guy?
The animal that the exchange student said they were raising yesterday was curled up here, sleeping.
'I heard it was left with the administrative office.'
The exchange students this semester, including Narke, had only dropped off their luggage at school and departed again for the Imperial Palace today. Since they couldn't bring animals to the palace, they said they'd leave it in its cage with the administrative office before leaving.
I picked it up and headed to the dormitory administrative office on the first floor. Sure enough, there was an animal cage there, confirming they had indeed left it behind.
After returning the animal, I dumped my Older brother's medicine box onto the desk and counted the bottles.
The potion my Older brother gave me was a year's supply—calculated generously at five weeks per month—so there were 60 bottles.
For now, since I don't know what'll happen, I need to divide them conservatively.
I'll limit myself to using 30, and keep the remaining 30 in reserve in case of unforeseen circumstances.
'Should I use about ten for experiments?'
I opened one bottle and diluted the Poison.
'The problem is how to verify the effect.'
I briefly considered catching a beast… but decided against it. What crime did it commit?
With no clever method available, I had no choice but to drink it myself.
Today, I'll be adjusting temperature and ingredient ratios.
It's possible I'll fail at this stage, but for now I'll test two variations first.
There are countless possible cases, but there's no choice but to tackle them head-on.
Leo isn't future Leo yet, so there's nothing I can gain by asking him for help.
Given his upbringing, he's probably more adept than I am… but I can't exactly drag him out of class.
And so, I began the experiment.
***
Knock knock—
"Lukas, we brought the notes."
After six in the evening, I heard students' voices outside.
These guys are doing something out of character.
Coming on their own when they know I'm not here—seems they understood what I meant yesterday.
"Lukas?"
"Leave them there."
I shouted with the loudest voice I could muster, squeezing out every ounce of strength, and got up from the sofa.
Then I realized I'd overestimated my health, and collapsed back down.
'Damn….'
I created the chill myself.
Even though I only dropped one or two drops per attempt, the effect was clear.
No—rather than an effect, it was a negative impact. Drinking Poison again after a long time left my body without strength.
When I checked the Status window, sure enough, my health score had dropped by 1. It'll recover in a week anyway.
I raised my hand and spread my fingers.
They were shaking madly, as if someone were grabbing and shaking them.
'So this is what happens when you stop and then drink again.'
You really experience everything in life.
This is why I planned to test it gradually over a long period.
So, did I fail?
I took a deep breath and calmed the trembling.
Then I immediately reached out, grabbed the bottle on the table, and poured its contents into my mouth. In an instant, my heart turned cold, and the sensation spread throughout my body.
'Status window.'
Lukas René Askanian
Title: ???'s Hunter
Health: +3.3 (+7.0) [+6.3]
Mental strength: -6.6 (+1.0)
Magical power: ?
Skill: +1.07 (+0.05) [+4.07]
Impression: -10
Luck: -5.385 (+1.0)
Trait: Dawn777, Holy Power
I succeeded. In just one day.
"Ha, haha… ha…."
I exhaled in ragged breaths and laughed like a madman.
I don't know if I can call it luck. It was the result of going through more than half of the plans I'd laid out beforehand.
Still, succeeding with just temperature and ratio adjustments was satisfying in its own way.
I sprang up from my previously limp body.
The fatigue remained, but vitality was gradually returning to my core, letting me stand normally.
'Let's try Magical power first.'
It was thanks to potions and artifacts, but even so, the fact that I'd obtained a 6.3 core was hard to believe. I felt like I needed to see the results directly.
I lightly rubbed my fingers together and sparked a flame.
Pajik—!
'Oh.'
I admired the red magic flaring brightly before my eyes.
Even without directly drawing Magical power from the core, magic was released with just an image and a simple motion.
It wasn't just that the flow of Magical power had become smoother.
The color was subtly different too. It was the same red magic as usual, but each strand shimmered with a different hue. The magic Leo said he saw when he was young was probably closer to this than to what I usually use.
The diversity of color is one of the standards that separates talented mages from untalented ones. It means they can naturally operate Magical power with various properties.
My Magical power stat didn't even increase—just improving core health caused visible changes. The feeling was new.
'Should I check Holy Power too?'
Naturally engraving the Holy Power formula in my mind, I rubbed my hand at the same intensity as before.
In that moment, the air rippled smoothly like the surface of water, and pure white light scattered as if sunlight had touched it. Even with such a slight activation, the curtain on the opposite side of the room fluttered.
'This comes out even better than Magical power.'
The activation range itself is different.
So this is the kind of magic Pleroma uses.
'Honestly, I already think it's ridiculous to call something divine authority when it's just power refined from Magical power in the first place….'
Anyway, in this world, Holy Power is sacred strength, and I can bloom proof of perfect faith in my own hands more clearly than anything else. I seriously wondered whether anyone could still insist that I was Pleroma after seeing this.
In any case, the preparations were finished.
Now all that's left is to see how much more of the potion I can take.
I'd like to pour it in until I hit 10 points, but no matter how good something is, dumping it all at once can become a burden.
I recreated the potion using the exact same method as before.
As expected, once my health score rose another 0.2 points, pain slowly began to spread through my core. I immediately closed the bottle and cleaned up.
'Maximum 6.5 points, assuming artifact usage.'
I can just replenish little by little whenever the effect wears off.
Now, even if I use magic all day, I won't tire easily. I took out the pendant.
The moment I was about to pour Magical power into it, an unfamiliar sound came from somewhere.
"Beep…."
I stopped moving and looked around.
"Beeep—!"
'Huh?'
Anyone could tell it was an animal's cry.
I immediately turned around.
The grayish-brown lump I'd taken to the administrative office was staring at me with a strangely haggard face.
It was my first time seeing it with its eyes open, and now that I looked closely, it was definitely closer to a hamster than a rat. No—honestly, even that was unclear.
But one thing was certain.
It looked like it would gnaw through all the wood if it bounced wrong and slipped under the furniture.
'I took you to the administrative office in the first place, so why are you here?'
After locking eyes with the animal in a suffocating stare-down, I quietly scanned my surroundings first.
Is there anything I can cover it with?
No.
After finishing my thoughts, I quickly flicked my finger.
Ping—!
The animal floated up into the air. Thankfully, it was small enough that moving it with magic wasn't a problem.
I tucked the necklace back under my clothes and pulled the animal closer to my hand. I should release this guy outside first, then head to training. Carefully, I dispelled the magic and grabbed the animal in one hand.
"Beep—!"
"Yeah, I'll let you out now."
"Wait a second!"
I opened the door, tossed the notes that were placed in front of my room inside, and turned back to close it.
The moment I did, a chill ran down my spine.
"...."
Who said that last line?
I looked around.
I'm the only one using this floor. No one wants to be assigned a room on the same floor as Luka.
Still, there's a rooftop right above, and students frequently use the staircases on both sides.
Maybe someone shouted from the downstairs staircase or outside the dormitory, and the sound just carried loudly. It was evening, after all—sounds from below would echo more.
I found the most reasonable explanation, accepted it, and started walking again.
"Ah, wait! Hold on!"
"...."
I looked down at my hand with cold eyes.
A rational suspicion crossed my mind, and because of it, I started doubting whether I'd finally gone completely insane in this crazy world.
"You're trying to throw me outside?! At least listen to me first!"
"Wh—."
I felt my vision go dark as I loosened my grip. The animal panicked and clutched my hand tightly.
"Beep!"
Let's calm down first.
There's no person here, yet I'm hearing a human voice.
And coincidentally, the content of that voice is exactly the kind of thing a person would say.
There are stories in this world about granting animals personhood through Holy Power, but such a thing has never actually happened.
Did I wish so badly for animals to talk because Luka had so few friends? Am I hearing things because of that?
"No, I'm really talking to you! And before you throw me away, please listen!"
I stared at the ceiling and rubbed my face with my other hand.
After letting out a deep sigh, I seriously thought about where my sanity might have gone wrong.
And, as had always been the case, I arrived at the conclusion that it was far more likely that the world was insane—not me.
'Doesn't the Status window come up, maybe.'
I looked into the animal's round eyes and summoned the Status window.
'Status window.'
As if that'd work.
I sighed at myself for even trying and turned my gaze away.
At that moment, something flashed before my eyes.
Pai
Favorability +10
Title: ―
Health: +1
Mental strength: 0
Magical power: +1
Skill: +1
Impression: +3
Luck: +1
Trait: Holy Power
***
Since a surprisingly human-like Status window had appeared, I couldn't just ignore it.
More than anything, for some reason, the Favorability was +10. It was the second positive value I'd seen, after Narke.
I needed to know why.
I went back into the room and calmly attempted a conversation.
To give the conclusion first—the animal really was talking.
As we talked, I realized its mental age wasn't very high. If compared to a human, it was around five or six years old.
It knew that students had tried to catch it and feed it to me, that I ultimately didn't eat it, and that I safely handed it back to its owner.
That seemed to be why its Favorability had maxed out.
'Because it's an animal… is the evaluation just generous?'
It wasn't just high—it had already hit the maximum. Honestly, that surprised me.
Of course, realizing that we could communicate probably raised its Favorability even more.
Since Holy Power compatibility is required, it can't communicate with most humans, and it said I was only the second human it had ever been able to talk to.
The reason it kept escaping the administrative office was that it uses Holy Power as its energy source and needs to drink holy water, but the staff kept giving it plain water instead of the holy water Narke had provided.
As I infused Holy Power into its body, I asked,
"Feeling better now?"
"Yeah! Thanks."
The animal flipped over and flopped flat on the desk, belly up.
"But you… what species are you?"
"Species?"
"I mean, what kind of animal are you?"
After thinking for a long time, it answered,
"I don't know! I'm just me."
"Right. I see."
What was I even expecting…. Probably something hamster-like.
I gave up on understanding and took it back to the administrative office.
***
"Whew…."
I put away my wand and stood up.
When I looked outside, dawn was already breaking.
I left Pai with the administrative office, practiced magic in the training ground until midnight, and after that devoted myself entirely to physical training.
And then….
Ding—!
〈 Chapter 3. Constant dripping pierces stone (1) 〉
Proposal 2: Achieve 'health' score 0 (1/1) (9 hours 17 minutes 33 seconds)
* Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 3 Special Reward 〉
* Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 4. One swallow does not make a summer 〉
Congratulations!
'Proposal 2: Achieve 'health' score 0' successful!
'Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 3 Special Reward 〉' has been confirmed.
A week had passed.