Andy had been following these miscreants for the last twenty minutes, making sure he observed from afar, but close enough for them to be within the range of his senses.
These two stopped a few times, all to speak with a few other friends of theirs. Time went on and they soon closed in on a part of the academy that had long been abandoned due to what the academy then called, bad design.
Soon, they walked into the old gymnasium, meeting more than a dozen other students within.
Andy recognized them, not their faces, but their group. A ragtag group of mischievous children whom the authorities had allowed to exist for a while.
They were all bullies.
Though they have always used the rules of the academy to bully others, hence their longevity.
"Oi, is the boy dead?" A red-headed guy, one of the two who had gone to spy on Andy.
Corey. Andy glared at him from the ceiling of the building.
"Not at all. He's been sleeping for the past few days. Apparently, he's depressed about his friend's death."
Corey kissed his teeth. "Damn it. I thought he was weak-willed. People like him always crack. Maybe it just takes longer? What are the odds now?"
"2:7. Most people bet that he's not going to kill himself."
"He has to kill himself or else we'll lose a lot of merit points!" Corey said.
Are they using me as a means to earn gambling points? Andy found this sort of behavior to be twisted. It was repulsive to use another's life and well-being as a means of gambling.
"Then what do we do? Start another rumor about him? The last one didn't seem to have much of an effect on him."
"If he ends up dead out of nowhere, no one would question it." Another person said.
"No, that will bring the attention of the Academy to us. Even though they have turned a blind eye to our business, they will turn against us the moment we overstep. Killing him ourselves is out of bounds." Corey refused.
"Even though killing him would be easy." Corey kissed his teeth once again, pained that this option wasn't on the table.
Kill me? Andy thought to himself. Have I always been seen as a weak and easy target by almost everyone?
"If we can't find a way out of this, we'll have to squeeze out, at least, 20,000 merit points to cover the bill. That will make us bankrupt.
A girl with round glasses walked into the group with a calculator in her hands.
So far, Andy had counted 28 people around this gymnasium.
I'll kill you all before you get the… Andy paused. This wasn't his character.
He was so focused on the others, that he hadn't noticed the professionalism of his position.
Andy was on a roof, more than three floors above the ground. Until now, he hadn't realized where he was, how he had gotten to the roof.
The cool breeze atop made him realize where he was.
He knew that this wasn't his own natural thought process. This was… Yaroslav's.
It wasn't that the young General's spirit was possessing Andy, rather, a few of the man's traits rubbed off on him.
Does this have to do with the Identity Synchronization rate?
The higher it went, the more access he had to Yaroslav's memories and abilities. However, it seems like Identity Synchronization also has its dangers.
It could lead to an identity crisis if one doesn't take care.
"So, what do we do?"
"Let's just continue to aggravate the situation. Look for any gullible person who was either in love with Zeladin or Selena. We can use this person to push Anderson over the top." Corey said.
Andy raised a questioning brow at that suggestion. Did he care much for any other person in the academy? As much as he did for Zeladin, no.
[Side Quest!]
[Kill Corey.]
[Rewards: +1 Will. +1 Agility.]
[Penalty: None.]
Upon seeing this notification, Andy frowned. The rewards didn't match the danger of the consequences that could come with killing Corey.
And then his mind went back to the details of the quest that asked him to investigate the rumors about himself.
This should be enough right? These guys are the cause of the rumors going around. I wasn't asked to stop or solve it.
Just thinking about it was enough to bring up the quest's details.
[Quest! Difficulty: Low-Threat]
[Completion Rate: 48%.]
[Get to the bottom of the rumors against you. There are many hands pulling different strings from the shadows, and you have been placed in the middle.]
[Penalty: Mass social outrage. Possible attacks from fellow students. Sacrificial lamb. Possible demise.]
[Rewards: +10 Intelligence. +10 Agility. +3 Endurance. A Skill (???)]
[Hint: The truth has a stubborn way of remaining true. Isolation isn't the goal, reaction is.]
Just 48% percent? Aren't they the cause of the rumors? Andy reasoned.
Were there others that he didn't know of? Some who weren't present in the gymnasium?
While thinking of what it was, Andy's gaze travelled towards the hint section, and he couldn't help but feel like it had a double meaning…
Is the hint asking me to take action? Or saying that being proactive in this case would get me into trouble?
Staying behind, waiting to figure out if there were more members of this despicable group, Andy watched their every move.
At a point, his mind trailed back to the move he watched Yaroslav unleash on Yakov and the werewolves.
He unconsciously mimicked the technique's movements a few times, even causing a bit of spark in the air, from his Mana, a few times.
But this didn't last long as everyone scattered soon.
…
Elsewhere on campus…
"Principal Ganaf, it has been a few days. Has the rat been found?"
If Andy were here, he would be able to recognize this voice as its owner was the one who caused him all this trauma.
"Not yet."
"That's unfortunate. Has no one been acting weird? No one on the verge of going insane?"
"If there was, we would have already found out by now." Principal Ganaf sighed as he held his frustration in. "Would you like to carry out the investigation yourself, Baron?"
The gentleman looked at Principal Ganaf and smirked. He could sense his frustration. "No, I have to get out of the academy grounds to get something. As usual, don't let any of the kids near my place."
Watching the Baron leave, Principal Ganaf's expression remained neutral, only for his closed eyes to open, revealing menacing yellow and black pupils that would chill down the spine of many.
Let's hope that you don't make it back… for your sake, Baron.