Easter Egg.
An English term meaning "Easter egg," it refers to elements that game developers or programmers secretly hide within games for players to discover.
[Stella Academia] had a few such Easter eggs as well.
Some were utterly useless, while others were quite handy.
And a few were so impactful that they were better called hidden pieces rather than mere Easter eggs.
'Here it is.'
One of them was right here.
Following the knowledge from the game, I arrived at the small flower bed next to the girls' dormitory building.
A flower bed where clovers bloomed modestly.
It had a humble look that didn't match the academy's other grand and flashy landscaping.
But I liked this place more than any beautiful flower or tree. The reason was simple.
'If you stand still here for 5 minutes at night…'
Ding!
[A hidden quest has occurred.]
[La la la one leaf♪ La la la two leaves♪]
Objective: Find 10 four-leaf clovers. Who knows? Something good might come out if you do.
Reward: ? ? ?
'It popped up!!'
Nice. It really works.
I cheered inwardly.
The reward for this hidden quest was the 'Luck' stat.
The status window normally only had five stats: Strength, Agility, Vitality, Mana, and Intelligence.
But clearing this quest unlocked the hidden sixth stat, 'Luck.'
A honey of a stat that influenced everything from item drop rates to all sorts of probabilistic events.
That made it an essential hidden piece you had to grab before starting any speedrun.
'Speaking of item drops, I wonder if monsters here drop items too?'
I hadn't caught any monsters yet, so I didn't know.
Anyway, now was the time to focus on the quest in front of me.
Without hesitation, I accepted the quest and crouched down to earnestly search for four-leaf clovers.
Wow, this feels like going back to childhood. How long had it been since I last did something like this?
When I was little, I'd pick four-leaf clovers, dry them between book pages, and use them as bookmarks.
Lost in such memories, how much time had passed when I spotted one that particularly stood out among the dense leaves and carefully plucked it.
[Four-leaf clovers found: 1/10]
"All right! Got one."
Yes!
I clenched my fist, feeling a thrill of excitement.
It was right then.
"Ah! Hello there!"
A shadow silently emerged from the darkness and stopped beside me.
...
When did she get here?
Startled, I whipped my head around to see a girl with a sword at her waist saluting with a smile.
Her dark hair glistened with sweat as if she'd just finished intense training, and her training uniform was slightly open.
A body toned with lean muscles and a beaming smile.
It was someone I knew well.
'Karen?'
Karen Stark.
Daughter of the retired Imperial Grand General and one of the story's top powerhouses, the 'Sword Saint' Arthus Stark—and his only disciple.
At the same time, a once-in-a-generation genius who even surpassed the Sword Saint, and...
...a total sword nut.
To put it politely, a cheerful and innocent girl who only knew swordsmanship.
That's why [Stella Academia] players affectionately called her 'Sword Girl.'
"Ooh! That silver hair and those cool purple eyes...! Are you by any chance Cadet Jeron Airgia from the Magic Department...?!"
"Yeah, that's me. You know me?"
"Of course! It was you who took down that Kaiser Fireheart in one strike during today's practical sparring—the mysterious genius mage! The rumor has spread all over the school!"
"I see."
I'd become famous.
It wasn't unexpected. In fact, it was somewhat intentional.
With no protagonist around, I needed to get involved in the main story to survive in this world, and becoming a so-called 'named' character made that a lot easier in every way.
"But it's true, right? After beating Kaiser, you said, 'Ah... So this is the level of Stella? It's so boring I want to sleep. Now I'll stand in the heavens.'?"
"…? I didn't say it quite like that."
"Ahahahat! I loved that! As General always says, a man needs confidence!"
"No, I didn't say that."
Ah.
She was pretty loud in the game, but facing her in reality, she was twice as noisy.
What is this hyper energy?
"Ah, by the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Karen Stark from Swordsmanship Class 2-B! Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too, Karen."
"I'm happy to meet you too, Jeron. Haha, I think we can be good friends."
Her eyes sparkled as she grinned, then suddenly spotted the four-leaf clover in my hand.
"Hot! That's a four-leaf clover?! Did you come to hunt four-leaf clovers too, Jeron?!"
"Uh… yeah."
"Aha! I came to find four-leaf clovers too! General told me to look for something small in lots of gaps, no matter what!"
She pointed at her eyes with her fingers.
"He said it'd train my eyes to get better! So today, I'm looking for four-leaf clovers. I like them because they're cute!"
Her voice boomed like a soldier reporting.
It was her backstory—growing up under her soldier father had made that speech pattern stick.
Before I could respond, she unilaterally declared.
"Then it's a showdown! Whoever finds more wins! Starting now!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Karen began scanning the flower bed with terrifying focus.
Her hands moved like afterimages, plucking four-leaf clovers one after another wherever they passed.
It was insane speed.
She was on pace to sweep every four-leaf clover in this bed.
'Hey, you sword girl! If you take them all, what about my quest!!!!'
I panicked. There was no such event in the game.
And running out of four-leaf clovers? That never happened either.
But in reality, if they ran out, I might have to wait for them to regrow.
In my crisis, I had a flash of inspiration.
'[Keen Eye]!'
Activating the hero-grade skill slowed the world around me.
'Argh, damn. This isn't what this skill is for..!'
Grumbling inwardly, I hyper-focused on every single leaf of every clover.
Pabababat—
With the skill's power, I too started finding four-leaf clovers at tremendous speed.
Of course, my pure hand speed was naturally much slower than Karen's, but by using [Keen Eye] to predict her movements and reaching out first, I could snatch the clovers before her hands got there.
My Agility had reached D-rank, so I could at least keep up like a person should.
Swish—swish! Swish!
The afterimages from our hands danced wildly over the flower bed.
A bizarre spectacle unfolding in the dead of night.
It almost looked like some strange training scene from a kung fu movie.
[Hidden quest completed!]
['Luck' +1]
'Yes!'
By a hair's breadth, I grabbed the final tenth four-leaf clover first and completed the quest.
The moment I took the last one, Karen's delayed hand overlapped onto mine innocently.
"Ah...!"
She let out a regretful sigh.
And then.
"Ooooh...!"
Her eyes lit up as she sincerely admired.
"Jeron, you're a total master!! You have the 'good eyes' General talked about! Amazing for a mage!"
'Huh… Getting praised for good eyes by this freak-eyed monster.'
I was dumbfounded.
Truth be told, my hero-grade active skill [Keen Eye] was the perfect downgrade of Karen's legend-grade passive skill [Sword God's Eye].
Her skill would later surpass [Keen Eye] running 24/7 and even reveal enemies' weaknesses clearly—an absolute cheat skill.
Players had to go through hell to get it, but she was born with it.
For now, though, since she was young and couldn't control her skill properly, my active skill had a slight momentary edge.
Soon enough, I'd be the outclassed scrub.
"Jeron! Won't you spar with me?!"
But then Karen came at me burning with enthusiasm.
"When I see a strong person, my blood boils! I'm ready anytime—how about it?!"
Looking at her, I smiled thinly and said.
"No thanks."
Sword girl... why would I spar with you?
I'm not trying to trigger the half-kill heatstroke ending.
***
At that moment.
Artel figured out the identity of the girl talking with Jeron.
'That girl… Karen Stark from the Swordsmanship Department…!'
The Sword Saint's daughter and only disciple—a famous genius.
A total heavyweight who ranked 3rd in the entrance exam.
Watching the two happily chatting, she unwittingly furrowed her brow.
To Artel, who didn't know the situation, it looked like the two were enjoying a secret rendezvous in the flower bed late at night.
'Was Karen friends with Jeron?'
It was puzzling.
So she kept watching.
'…Hah?'
It was weird enough that the two were amicably picking clovers in the flower bed, but the real issue came next.
At some point, Karen suddenly grabbed Jeron's hand tight, overlapping it.
'In, in the sacred academy, doing this openly…!'
Grit.
Her molars ground automatically. But then.
'…Why am I so annoyed seeing Jeron with another girl?'
Such a question suddenly bubbled up in Artel's mind.
Truth be told, what Jeron did with whom, wherever, wasn't her business, right?
So why was she like this?
After pondering briefly, she realized.
'…Jeron is the one who gave me precious guidance today.'
He'd shown her the heights of excellent magic and even clapped in encouragement when she'd clumsily tried to imitate it.
Like a senior or mentor friend leading the way.
It was only natural to feel displeased when some sword-swinging brute came rubbing up against such a friend.
Swordsmanship and magic had a traditional rivalry, after all.
Yuria… well, she was a fellow magic student, so fine.
But not this sword nut.
She looked sly at a glance.
Poor pure Jeron might fall for it hook, line, and sinker.
Once they got close, she might pull some scheme on him or figure out his weaknesses.
It could even be a ploy to win a spar.
That would be a massive loss for the magic world.
Yes, this wasn't personal—it was a grave issue that could connect to public matters—!
Artel gripped the balcony railing tight, glaring coldly at the two in the flower bed.
A faint chill emanated from her fingertips.
Crack—
Unbeknownst to her, the balcony railing was slowly freezing over.
***
"Ehh—?! Why?!"
At the unexpected curt refusal, Karen looked clearly disappointed.
"Why not! I, I fight well, Jeron!"
Yeah. I know.
I know all too well.
That's why I'm not fighting.
"…Anyway, no. More importantly, can you let go of this?"
I nodded toward my hand. The one I'd reached out for the four-leaf clover earlier.
For some reason, Karen had been holding onto it nonstop since then.
"Ah! My apologies, hehe."
Karen immediately let go, clasped her hands behind her back, and said.
"Still, I'd love to clash with you someday, Jeron! It'd be so fun— Hmm?"
Mid-sentence, she glanced around the air as if searching for something.
"What's up?"
When I asked, Karen answered with a serious face.
"Just now, it suddenly got chilling!"
It's night, so it's cold.
I didn't think much of it. But Karen continued.
"And… it felt kinda damp too! A really unpleasant moisture!"
I looked at her like she was weird.
She kinda was.
"Ugh, I think I should head in for the night! Have a good night, Jeron!"
Shivering from some inexplicable chill, Karen hurriedly left.
Left alone, I checked the Luck stat I'd gained from the quest reward and smiled in satisfaction.
Grinning ear to ear, I returned to the dorm, slept soundly, and headed to class the next morning.
…
All day, Artel kept glancing at me.
With super scary eyes.
What did I do to her?