It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Can You Study on an Empty Stomach? (1)

Some time after building the Study Villa, monsters, having caught the scent, finally attacked.

Kyung-joon ended up hunting every time a monster raided during his study sessions.

Of course, as someone who wanted to focus on his studies, this was an unacceptable situation.

However.

What was the reason he created the Study Villa in the first place?

It was to concentrate solely on his studies in a place with beautiful scenery and fresh air, without any disturbance.

But going out to hunt himself?

It was preposterous, absurd.

So, Kyung-joon created it.

It was called 『Energy Tower』.

A very excellent defensive building that would automatically take care of intruders while he studied.

“How on earth does that make sense……! I mean, seriously!”

The team leader of the 10th branch of The World monitoring team couldn’t accept this situation.

The World was a game where even power leveling through high-level players was systematically regulated.

In order for players to level up, they have no choice but to engage in bloody battles with monsters using their own weapons and staff.

But that user, Kyung-joon?

There was no bloody battle or anything like that.

A magical building, who knows what it is, was taking care of the monsters.

And not just taking care of them, his experience points were rising properly…….

“How can he gain experience points when he’s not the one killing them? It’s not like a blacksmith levels up when someone hunts with a weapon they made!”

Besides the blacksmith analogy, there were other examples.

For instance, let’s say a house built by an architect collapsed and killed a monster.

In such cases, it would only be processed as the monster being killed, and the architect wouldn’t gain any experience points.

Unless, of course, the architect intentionally caused the building to collapse.

Hearing the team leader’s reasonable complaints, Kim Bu-ha briefly checked something on the computer and soon came up with an answer.

“When I traced the source of Kyung-joon’s experience point acquisition log, a skill popped up. It’s still being used, so it keeps appearing.”

“What? A skill? Construction skills are done once you build something.”

“It’s not a construction skill. Currently, the building called Energy Tower is considered part of the mythical skill 『Just A Rather Very Intelligent System』. That’s why when the Energy Tower kills a monster, it’s considered as Kyung-joon using a skill to kill it. Naturally, there’s also an MP consumption record.”

“So, you’re saying it’s neither an error nor a bug?”

“Yes.”

If it wasn’t an error or a bug, then Kyung-joon’s actions couldn’t be considered illegal in the game.

If it were illegal, the God of The World, the supreme artificial intelligence that manages The World, would have already imposed sanctions.

But there were no sanctions whatsoever.

It meant that Kyung-joon was in the clear.

“Oh my, my head hurts.”

The team leader had a headache, wondering how he would report this to his superiors.

He wasn’t even hunting, just studying, and his experience points were piling up like crazy.

Moreover, according to the operation team’s scenario, the Territory System, which wasn’t supposed to be released for at least another five years, was about to be opened in less than a year.

His level was low, but his stats were already off the charts.

He might not be ranked among the top players yet, but he’d probably catch up in a few months.

“Bu-ha, I’m going up to the roof for a bit. Keep monitoring.”

“Uh, yes……. Be, be careful.”

The team leader left the 10th monitoring room with a resigned expression.

Kim Bu-ha could only hope that his team leader wouldn’t make any rash decisions due to excessive stress.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

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[Your Intelligence has increased by 1 through continuous studying..]

[You have slain a prairie wolf.]

[You have gained 19 experience points.]

[Level up!]

▶Kyung-joon: Lv.5→Lv.6

“Leveled up again?”

Right on time, as Kyung-joon finished a good amount of studying, the status window popped up, indicating his level up.

Kyung-joon checked his status window for the first time in a while.

He had been meaning to check it.

[Kyung-joon]

▶Job: Infinite Knowledge Seeker

▶Race: Human (Player)

▶Level: 6

▶Experience: 0%

▶HP: 530/530

▶MP: 874/1470

▶Strength: 76 Agility: 10 Intelligence: 242 Stamina: 64 Mana: 176

▶Remaining Stat Points: 25

Kyung-joon’s stat window was unbelievable for a level 6 player.

In The World, you gain 5 stat points per level.

Considering the total of his 5 main stats alone, it was a stat that could only be achieved after reaching level 100.

Moreover, he hadn’t even allocated his stat points yet, and he had plenty of levels left to gain.

The only flaw was his low agility, but looking at his stats alone, some might mistake him for a high-level wizard character.

▶Dexterity: 124

▶Water attribute affinity: 51 Earth attribute affinity: 47

▶Fame: 79

What was even more noteworthy was that he had special stats in addition to the 5 main stats.

His dexterity stat naturally reached 124 as he crafted the Energy Tower, fences, desks, chairs, and other items.

And that wasn’t all.

Elemental affinity, something that only Spirit Summoners or high-level wizards could unlock.

It was difficult enough to obtain one element, but Kyung-joon had already unlocked two elemental affinities.

Of course, it wasn’t intentional.

It was naturally unlocked as he went through various journeys for the sake of studying.

His fame was similar.

“Hehehe.”

If a player asked Kyung-joon how he became so strong, he would probably answer like this:

I studied mainly Korean, English, Math, Science, and Social Studies, and this is what happened.

<But the final exams aren’t just Korean, English, Math, Science, and Social Studies, are they?>

“Still, it’s better than nothing to have finished most of the main subjects.”

There were still about two weeks left until Cheongshin High School’s final exam period.

However, Kyung-joon had already finished most of the main subjects up to the exam scope.

And he didn’t just finish them.

He thoroughly reviewed everything from the very beginning of the book, meaning the mid-term exam range, to the very last page.

“Sometimes there are questions that assume you know the mid-term exam range.”

<You leave no room for error. You’ll surely get much more satisfying results on this final exam compared to the midterms.>

“Yeah, I hope I get exactly what I studied for, no more, no less.”

[Tenacity buff has been deactivated.]

[Creativity buff has been deactivated.]

Kyung-joon stepped outside the Study Villa to get some fresh air.

As expected of a carefully chosen location, everything was satisfactory.

The clear blue sky, the vast grasslands, the sensible fences surrounding them, and even the cute Energy Tower, everything.

Of course, if he opened the fence gate and went outside, a completely opposite sight awaited him.

Piles of wolf carcasses, encircling the fence.

“I’ve caught a lot.”

<You have slain a total of 187 prairie wolves and 1 Veteran Prairie Wolf.>

“And still only level 6?”

The World was a game where leveling up was notoriously difficult.

[You have acquired prairie wolf pelt.]

[You have acquired prairie wolf meat.]

As he collected items from the prairie wolf carcasses, Kyung-joon finally understood why people called The World a tough game.

But it didn’t matter to him.

Since he was planning to continue studying anyway, both now and in the future, it didn’t matter how hard it was to level up.

It was when he finished collecting all the loot from hundreds of prairie wolves.

[Inventory limit reached 10%.]

※Inventory limit can be increased by raising your Strength stat.

[Satiety has reached 0%.]

[If you don’t eat, your stats will decrease by the negative value of your Satiety.]

※You will die when Satiety reaches -100%.

“I should stop by the village later.”

<Are you going to sell all the loot?>

“Yeah, if I leave them like this, they’ll all rot anyway. It’s better to sell them and make some money before that happens.”

While the pelts could last a while, the meat would rot in a week if not processed properly.

Even if he stored them in his inventory.

He decided to solve the inventory problem that way, and the remaining issue was his satiety.

However…….

“I’m out of hard bread.”

The hard bread he had brought along to replenish his satiety.

He had already eaten them all, and there were only single digits left.

Enough for a day.

From tomorrow onwards, he would have to study on an empty stomach.

“It can’t be helped. I have to go to the village right now.”

There’s no way he could study on an empty stomach.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Kyung-joon first went to the general store to dispose of the loot he had obtained from the prairie wolves.

“Hello, I have 187 prairie wolf pelts and 187 prairie wolf meat, for a total of 374,000 liyan.”

The general store owner couldn’t help but be astonished by the mountain of pelts and meat that almost reached the ceiling.

Usually, people brought in 10 to 20 at most, but this was close to 200!

Moreover, by the time players were strong enough to hunt prairie wolves, they usually left the beginner village.

A player coming to sell hundreds of prairie wolf pelts and meat was rare, so rare that Kyung-joon was the only one.

“So, it’s 1,000 liyan per pelt and meat, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. But we’re having an event since yesterday where we give 10% more for prairie wolf loot. So, if you calculate that…”

“It’s 411,400 liyan. Here you go.”

“Y, Yes?”

The general store owner was a little surprised by Kyung-joon’s instant calculation.

It wasn’t a big deal for Kyung-joon.

‘Isn’t this the average calculation speed for Koreans?’

Kyung-joon’s thought was half right and half wrong.

It was true that Koreans had a significantly faster calculation speed compared to other countries, but Kyung-joon was particularly fast.

He was unaware that his calculation skills had improved without him realizing it while studying math diligently lately.

“Thank you for your patronage.”

“You’re welcome. I think I’ll be back in a few days. I’ll probably be selling a similar amount then.”

After all, the Energy Tower would have hunted that much again in a few days.

The general store owner’s face stiffened slightly at Kyung-joon’s words.

“Y, You’re joking, right?”

“Haha, of course not.”

Leaving the general store owner with an incredulous expression, Kyung-joon stepped outside.

He had earned 410,000 liyan in just a few days, despite only studying.

It was equivalent to earning 40,000 won in cash.

He never thought that loot would be worth this much.

“Maybe the Energy Tower’s maintenance cost won’t be that high?”

<Currently, the Energy Tower kills 1-2 prairie wolves per shot, or 3-4 if there are many. A prairie wolf costs about 2,000 liyan with all the meat and skin, so the maintenance cost narrowly comes to 0 won.>

“Wow, this is a real stroke of luck.”

Kyung-joon had even considered getting a part-time job during the vacation to cover the Energy Tower’s maintenance cost.

But now, he could cover it just by selling prairie wolf loot.

It was practically an infinite power source.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

After solving his inventory problem at the general store, Kyung-joon’s next destination was the bakery.

“Bread, I’m here.”

“Oh my, where have you been?”

Bread, the owner of the bakery in the beginner village, greeted Kyung-joon in a friendly yet slightly resentful manner.

TL: He’s name is Bread (lol)

The reason was simple.

Kyung-joon had been getting free hard bread from Bread all this time.

“Here you go.”

Kyung-joon handed Bread a large, jingling pouch.

“Is this money? It looks like there’s at least a few hundred thousand liyan in here? What’s this for all of a sudden?”

“You gave me free bread before, right? It’s time for me to pay my dues.”

“Hahaha! To think the day would come when I’d receive payment from you!”

Bread burst into laughter, saying he had almost given up hope.

After a few friendly exchanges between Bread and Kyung-joon, Bread decided to be generous.

“Alright! Today, you can have as much of any bread you want, not just hard bread!”

“Really? What about the price?”

“Just consider it as already paid with the money in this pouch. Haha!”

[Friendship with Bread has increased by 5.]

Kyung-joon felt happy inside after hearing Bread’s generous words.

Of course, the pouch Kyung-joon gave him contained more than enough to cover the free bread he had received, but that’s how human relationships work.

Even if it’s with an NPC.

“If there’s anything you want to eat in particular, I can make it for you. Any bread you have in mind?”

“Bread I want to eat……”

Kyung-joon pondered for a moment, resting his chin on his hand.

First of all, anything but hard bread would do.

Now that he had plenty of money, he didn’t want to eat that tasteless and tough bread anymore.

Bread, bread, bread…

Birthday bread, steamed bun, toast…

Then, a distant memory suddenly crossed his mind.

It was the title of a fairy tale he had read as a child…

“Bread that Makes You Study Well.”

What a ridiculous title that was.

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