Originally, the in-game reward from Professor Sierra was the [Mana Recovery Bracelet].
It was a decent item that slowly regenerated mana while equipped, but it wasn't something I desperately needed right now.
However, in my hand was not a bracelet, but a black leather pouch the size of my palm.
It looked like an ordinary coin pouch at a glance.
But in fact, this was a far more useful item.
[Item]
[Subspace Pouch (Rare)]
Description: A magical pouch that distorts space-time to store items. It can hold far more than it appears.
None other than the Subspace Pouch.
[Stella Academia] had no separate inventory system.
It didn't matter much in the early game when items were scarce, but as the story progressed, the accumulation of materials and gear made it extremely inconvenient.
That's why it was one of the essential items you had to save up gold to buy.
To get it here was an unexpected windfall.
'Why did the gift get better?'
Come to think of it, Sierra's reaction earlier had been even more dramatic than when the protagonist gave the correct answer.
My casual "just" response seemed to perfectly hit her romantic tastes.
It was a result of my skills, traits, and image coincidentally aligning.
"You seem to know what it is. Right. It's a Subspace Pouch. Made by a skilled craftsman."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah~ Use it well. Oh, and think again about being a teaching assistant. The door to the research building is always open to romantic guys like you."
She winked playfully.
It turned out this wasn't just a pure gift—it doubled as a bribe.
"..."
No wonder it was something expensive.
Anyway, with the Subspace Pouch secured, all of today's schedule was successfully completed.
***
The two days until the weekend flew by quickly.
"Ooh! Jeron and dungeon conquest? Sounds good!"
The first thing I did was recruit Karen to the dungeon party.
It was easy since we had prior contact and she already had a strong fondness for me.
"But Jeron, when's our spar... Ahh! You can't ignore me!"
Of course, that fondness wasn't exactly romantic—it was closer to rivalry.
After that, I engaged in all sorts of lazy antics to rake in as many points as possible.
For example, like this.
In [Magitech Engineering] class.
"Today's task is to build a small golem using these magic circuits and parts. I'll evaluate based on completion quality and operating speed. The first one done, come forward and submit."
"Here it is."
"...Huh? Already? This fast? Wait, this is a total mess."
"But it was fast."
[Sloth +50!]
In [Mana Control Training] class.
"Today, we'll overcome fear from a high cliff and practice controlling mana!"
"Ugh, too scary."
"Don't look down. I almost puked."
"Huh? But... isn't Jeron sleeping over there?"
"Crazy. That's real madness."
[Sloth +100!]
...Something like that.
Of course, I didn't forget to sleep during general classes either.
I didn't really want to go this far.
I was genuinely scared sleeping on that cliff.
But what could I do? It was necessary to raise sloth.
Also, through this process, I learned a few more things about my trait.
Surprisingly, the system didn't block me from actively intervening in the story.
For example, sparring with Kaiser or participating in elective classes.
Those could be seen as diligent actions.
Yet the system encouraged them by giving quests instead of deducting sloth.
The key was the 'method.'
It was more about how you did it than what you did.
You could tell from the quests always tagged with "in a slothful way."
But for everyday routine stuff, it was ruthlessly strict.
Running down the hallway? No.
Cooking your own meal? No.
Personal study or training? Absolutely not. Even cleaning a messy room was off-limits.
In summary, the system seemed to be telling me:
"Progress the story, but do it as lazily as possible. And be endlessly lazy in all other private life aspects."
I complied with that rule, steadily accumulating sloth.
After all, it was the most efficient way to get stronger in this world.
Anyway.
The result of diligently(?) gathering sloth like that was this.
[Level: 25]
[Sloth: 1500]
"...Finally got it all."
I gazed at my status window with the satisfaction of a farmer harvesting well-grown crops.
I'd amassed a whopping 1500 sloth points.
My level had also risen by 2 to 25 in the meantime.
"Time to shop, then."
I immediately opened the Sloth Shop and selected the skill I'd been eyeing.
[Use 1200 Sloth to purchase the 'Unstable Amplification' skill?]
'Purchase.'
It was the moment I acquired my fourth skill, following [Sharp Eye], [Basic Reflex], and [Magitech Slash].
[Skill]
[Unstable Amplification (Legend)]
Not responsible for any unexpected side effects.
Description: (Active) Strengthens the next spell used. However, a penalty is applied to that spell. (Cooldown: 10 minutes)
Unstable Amplification.
A peculiar skill that amplifies magic.
In exchange, the amplified magic comes with a fatal penalty.
'Use it wrong, and you're done for.'
A double-edged sword you couldn't wield carelessly.
But I was a [Stella Academia] veteran.
I had memorized every amplification effect and penalty for all skills.
I knew which ones were fine and which became trash.
Plus, there was a special usage others didn't know about...
This time, I planned to exploit it to snag the dungeon's hidden element for free.
'Good. And...'
I turned back to the Sloth Shop.
Originally, the plan was just to buy [Unstable Amplification].
But after drawing [Magitech Slash] from the spellbook, I'd revised it.
To deal with that 'old geezer' bastard early.
This world didn't have only good NPCs like Yuria or Artei.
There were evil-aligned ones like Kaiser, and far more vicious ones.
One of them was the 'old geezer.'
He had a real name, but players called him old man, geezer, fossil, etc.—an extreme evil character.
He was a powerful mid-boss you normally faced in the late 1st year.
But there was an exploit to meet him early.
Using it let you take him out before he got too strong.
I spent the remaining 300 points on another item.
[Item]
[Mysterious Mana Potion (Heroic)]
A potion that massively restores mana temporarily.
And.
[12 stat points used on Mana.]
['Ultimate Growth Elixir' effect: +2 points added.]
[Mana: D -> C (32)]
I also invested all the stat points I'd saved from level-ups into Mana.
'Preparation complete.'
I spent Friday night planning tomorrow's task.
Elderly respect?
No. Old man assault operation.
***
Etercity, the city near Stella Academia.
It was always crowded with heavy foot traffic.
Thus,
A few sudden disappearances a day went unnoticed easily.
"Mmph, mmph!"
In a damp, dark underground lab.
A young man lay bound with ropes and a gag amid the stench of mold and blood.
He writhed in terror, but the restraints showed no sign of loosening.
Then.
"Hmm. Awake, are you?"
Suddenly, someone emerged from the darkness.
An old man with a grotesquely twisted face and corpse-pale skin.
He scanned the man with a satisfied smile.
"Mmph!!!"
The man screamed and thrashed desperately upon eye contact.
But it was futile.
"Be still."
The old man clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Squish, squelch.
His hand twisted and deformed.
A bundle of grotesque, veiny muscles like tentacles extended slowly toward the man.
Stab!
The sharp tentacle tip pierced the man's nape mercilessly.
"..."
The man could no longer even scream, merely twitching occasionally.
The tentacle pulsed, greedily sucking something from his body.
The man's sturdy frame aged rapidly.
His dark hair turned snow-white, his taut skin withered like crumpled leather.
"Ahh, life force... such overflowing life force."
The old man—no, 'Flesh Mage' Morel—savored the influx with ecstasy.
Immortality.
The one thing Morel had yearned for over a century.
Born frail, every day was a brush with death.
'I don't want to die.'
Lying in bed, he repeated it daily.
'No matter what it takes...'
Then one day, as if heaven answered his plea.
He awakened a bizarre magic.
The magic to absorb others' life force.
His first victim was the old doctor treating him.
A useless doctor who couldn't even heal him.
Absorbing his life force gave Morel a healthy body for the first time.
'Hahaha, now I can live...! I won't die...!'
Guilt over murder?
Not at all.
Only immense pleasure and joy.
Thus, Morel sustained himself by periodically draining people's life force.
But as time passed, another problem arose.
Natural bodily aging.
Even constant absorption had limits in maintaining his rotting flesh.
So Morel began 'research.'
Over decades, he'd ground countless people into it.
Targeting only the untraceable, holing up underground for research—he evaded the Empire's eyes.
Recently, he'd finally gained the ability to strengthen and transform his body.
He named it 'Flesh Magic.'
Develop Flesh Magic further,
And he'd gain not just eternal life, but immense power.
"Heh heh heh... My great research is nearly complete."
Morel muttered in rapture.
Then.
Boom—!
A massive explosion echoed from outside.
"...Hmm?"
Morel halted the absorption, turning toward the entrance with unease.
It was a well-hidden lair.
The entrance had a custom steel door for top security.
He'd chosen only the untraceable for experiments...
Had the Empire caught his tail?
He hurried to the entrance, and his face paled.
The sturdy steel door was torn like paper.
Slashed by something sharp.
"An intruder...!"
Someone had invaded his secret lab.
A formidable one at that.
The door suggested a swordsman.
"Damn it. Why now of all times..."
Grind. Morel's rotten yellow teeth gnashed.
"First, secure the research data...!"
He rushed to the data storage room.
But.
Someone was already there.
An intruder in a deep black hood.
"You came here as expected. Same pattern."
"W-Who the hell are you!"
Morel glared at the intruder.
The moment his eyes met the pale purple ones peeking from the hood's shadow.
"No need to know. Just die."
With a cold voice, Jeron's finger slashed the air.
No chance to retort.
Morel's body was bisected clean in half.