It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 90

Chapter 90: BlackChef’s Alley Restaurant: Study Villa (5)

“Ah, finally finished washing the dishes. Cleaning up after cooking is more work than the cooking itself.”

BlackChef put his cleanly washed cooking tools and utensils into his inventory.

Then, he pulled out his two beloved knives that had been stuck in the ground.

In his left hand, a sharp sashimi knife.

In his right hand, a giant Chinese cleaver.

Fortunately, he immediately secured them to his waist as soon as he pulled them out.

Before BlackChef took a step to leave, he turned around for a moment and smacked his lips.

“I should do some more research on the next dish before I put it on the menu, right? The meat hasn’t fully matured yet.”

Kyung-joon chuckled and waved his hand.

“Yes, you should. Now off you go.”

“Swaaack~ Just sprinkle the sauce like thiiis~ Swaaaack~”

And so, Kyung-joon sent BlackChef, the crazy chef, away from the territory.

Suddenly, Teemo spoke up.

< (*￣.￣)a>

<He’s not someone to be underestimated, that BlackChef.>

“Whoa, you scared me. What, Teemo, when did you wake up?”

Teemo had been in sleep mode all day.

That’s why he had been so quiet. It seemed like he was feeling better now.

<ꈍ .̮ꈍ✿>

<I just woke up.>

“Did you get some good rest?”

<I feel back to normal after a good day’s rest. At least for the next few months, there should be no problem.>

<ᕙ ( ᐛ )ᕗ>

In fact, the festival had been held not only for the residents and Kyung-joon to rest, but also for Teemo.

Just like a computer that stutters when left on for too long, Teemo had been showing similar symptoms recently, so he had given him a day to rest.

In a way, this was the reason why BlackChef was able to easily barge into the territory.

< (_ _).>

<I apologize. I never dreamed something like this would happen while I was resting.>

“No, it’s okay. It ended well, so it’s all good. So, you said he’s not someone to be underestimated?”

<Yes. That BlackChef, from the moment he started talking to Master until he turned his back and disappeared into the distance, he didn’t show a single opening.>

“Right.”

Kyung-joon briefly opened his status window to check how much time had passed.

Then he continued.

“In fact, BlackChef was on guard for 14 hours and 37 minutes straight.”

<You mean like Master is doing right now?>

“Well, something like that.”

Kyung-joon, confirming that BlackChef had disappeared, snapped his fingers, severing all the fine threads connected to his mana.

Immediately, hundreds of spells that he had been maintaining were all canceled.

[Canceling the activation of Energy Bolt (No.1).]

[Canceling the activation of Energy Bolt (No.2).]

．

．

．

[Canceling the activation of Energy Bolt (No.999).]

[You have successfully concealed your spellcasting for a total of 14 hours and 37 minutes.]

[You have gained an understanding of the Unique skill 『Hide Casting』.]

『Hide Casting』, a skill that almost no one could learn unless they were born with mana like fairies.

Kyung-joon had first learned it from TikiTiki and had been practicing it in his spare time ever since.

Especially when he had secretly infiltrated Limurimu’s lab in the Slime Labyrinth.

The reason he had scattered his mana around so that she wouldn’t notice was all in preparation for 『Hide Casting』.

And he did the same thing today when BlackChef invaded.

He had continuously scattered his mana around and maintained it for 14 hours and 37 minutes straight.

It was in that context that he could brush off BlackChef’s attempt on his life as nothing major.

“If the lord of the territory has a gun pointed at the back of his head, shouldn’t he at least have a kitchen knife by his side?”

The reason why BlackChef couldn’t help but seem alert.

He couldn’t let his guard down when his life was constantly being threatened.

Of course, his outstanding skills as a ranker, ranked 11th in the Unified Rankings, also played a part.

‘Come to think of it, I was going to search for BlackChef online earlier but didn’t get around to it.’

Kyung-joon logged out and turned on his smartphone.

He went to World Inven, the largest community site in The World, and tapped on the search bar.

『Search: BlackChef』

As soon as he pressed enter,

Shhhk.

Several posts about BlackChef popped up.

Kyung-joon skimmed through them.

“Whoa.”

He couldn’t help but be surprised, even though he had expected it.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

At dawn by the Francois River.

A woman was gasping for breath as if she were dying.

“Huff, huff…… Guys. Huff…… Is this real life? Huff, huff……”

Her face, with her hair tied up in apple pigtails, was flushed and her forehead, usually fully exposed, was half covered with sweat, showing how intensely she had been singing.

“Huuuh.”

She took a deep breath and looked up at the orange morning sky.

Then, she cried out pathetically.

“I stayed up all night, is this real?! How?! How many songs did I sing?! Haha! Ahahahaha!”

[『BJMiguning』’s broadcast chat window]

━ㄷㄷCrazy Gooning

━Calm down

━Looks like you didn’t try hard enough, you need to try harder, dude

“So, I didn’t try haaaard enough, is that it? Huh? Not haaard enough? Hahaha! Ahahaha!”

BJMiguning clutched her stomach and laughed hysterically.

Her uniquely high-pitched voice seemed to be tearing through the speakers.

Then, suddenly,

Silence.

Her laughter stopped.

“I! Huh?! I sang for hours since last night! I sang so much that my Allure of Cuteness level went up from 6 to 7! But why isn’t it appearing?! Why won’t it show up…… How much I… prepared for this raid…… Sob…… Sob sob……!”

BJMiguning, who had been laughing, became angry, and finally burst into tears.

She was someone who seemed to exhibit symptoms of mania, depression, and even anger issues.

Even with her tragicomic display, the viewers, already accustomed to it, filled the chat with ‘lol’.

━lolllll Her reaction is hilarious

━Don’t you know it’s common sense to hold a rain ritual until it rains?

━The Ogopogo is holding onto the doorknob right now! One more song and it’ll come out!

━One more time for the cuteness, let’s go!

『Allure of Cuteness』, a special skill that only BJMiguning could use.

She had been singing since yesterday to lure the Ogopogo with this skill.

But the Ogopogo did not come.

Only a bunch of other monsters had flocked to her.

Of course.

It was because the Ogopogo had already gone to heaven.

Or, to be precise, into the stomachs of Kyung-joon, his residents, and BlackChef.

BJMiguning glanced at the chat window and stood up.

“No way~ What doorknob. I’m not singing anymore. I can’t sing anymore. I’m just going to end the stream and go to sleep.”

BJMiguning had high hopes for the Ogopogo Raid.

But now, even those hopes had vanished.

“Well~ At least I sang a lot, so it’s okay. Right? Right? Acknowledge meeee↗~”

In the end, she went into the kingdom’s tent and told the sleeping Knight Commander Getorix that she was giving up.

“Mister. It’s no use. I give up, give up~”

“Giving up? You mean the Ogopogo didn’t show up?”

“It’s not coming no matter how much I sing with my skill~ It must have slipped and died on the way here~”

“……Slipped and died? That Ogopogo is a plesiosaur, it has flippers but no legs.”

“Anyway, something like that~”

“Hmm.”

Getorix stroked his chin thoughtfully.

The otherworlders were something else, always speaking so flippantly, but he understood what she was trying to say.

Soon, Getorix made up his mind.

“Well, if it didn’t show up even after we used the area-wide provocation skill, then I guess it’s safe to say it won’t be coming this summer. I apologize to everyone who gathered, but…… it can’t be helped. The Ogopogo Raid for this year is officially over! Retreat!”

And so, the kingdom and the mercenaries all retreated.

This meant that the quests given to the players were as good as canceled.

“Hey! The kingdom is returning! They said it’s over!”

“What?! What do you mean?!”

“I don’t know. They just said the raid is canceled for today?”

“I knew it when most of the mercenaries started to leave, sigh.”

“Well, then why did they tell us to gather by giving us quests?!”

“But why didn’t the Ogopogo show up?”

“That’s what I’m saying…… Even if we ask the kingdom, they just say they don’t know……”

“Sigh. We should’ve just hunted more during this time.”

“Seriously.”

[Kingdom of Francois’s Unique Quest 『Ogopogo Raid!』 has been canceled.]

[The quest will be automatically canceled for all participating players.]

With the kingdom and the mercenaries retreating, the quests given to the players were all canceled.

In the end, the Ogopogo Raid ended without even properly starting.

“……Let’s go too.”

“Let’s go.”

“What point is there in waiting any longer?”

“Right…… There’s no way we can catch it with this many people now that the NPCs have disbanded……”

Even the few remaining players gave up and started to leave one by one.

BJMiguning, who was one of the core members of the Ogopogo Raid, was no exception.

“Well then, that’s it for today’s stream.”

━Ah, so it ends like this

━I wanted to see the Royal Guards equipped with Ogopogo weapons

━What a shame.

“Well, that’s life for you~ It’s the perfect time anyway~ Haha~ Ahahaha~”

━lolllll Still crazy Gooning

━It’s morning though……?

━Twitch NEET optimized sleep scheduleㄷㄷ

(※Twitch NEET = Twitch unemployed = Someone who only watches internet broadcasts all day and doesn’t go outside)

“Ah, right. Log out. I’ll keep the camera on until I reach a nearby village.”

It was always best to log out in a village for safety when logging back in later.

Everyone did it that way.

“I should follow that group~”

BJMiguning’s job was 『Minstrel of Cuteness』, a support class.

It was safer and better to travel with a group of other players than to go alone.

Normally, she would have her NPC followers, the 『Royal Guard』, but she had left them behind for this Ogopogo Raid.

“Excuse me.”

“Hm?”

BJMiguning grabbed the hem of the last person in the group and asked,

“If you guys are going to the village, can I tag along?”

“Ah, Miguning-nim.”

“We’d love to have you.”

Regardless of anything else, everyone acknowledged her buffs.

Even though she was known to be quite lacking in gaming skills, she was still a ranker.

“Yay! What a score~”

And so, BJMiguning easily joined the group.

“You must be exhausted after staying up all night.”

“It would have been great if the Ogopogo had shown up.”

“Haha. Not at all. Singing and dancing is my job.”

“By the way, are you streaming right now?”

“Yep.”

“Is my face being broadcasted too?”

“Ah~ If you haven’t changed the settings, your nickname and everything will be mosaicked by default~”

“Ah, I see.”

The players chatted amongst themselves as they walked towards the village.

Then.

“Huh?”

BJMiguning let out a questioning sound and suddenly stopped walking.

The other players also stopped in surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

BJMiguning was listening intently.

“……Didn’t you hear something just now?”

“What sound……? I don’t think so.”

“That slicing sound? Like scraping a knife…… I think I heard something like that……”

“Hey, what did you hear?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything.”

“Miguning-nim, I think you might have misheard. Or maybe it was the sound of a swordsman player walking.”

“Hmm. It was a bit different from that sound.”

BJMiguning was known for her exceptional sensitivity to sounds and music, even in real life.

Scrape scrape.

There it was again.

That sound was like……

“……The sound of scraping a fork and knife together in anticipation before eating steak.”

━lolll What kind of analogy is that?

━Wait, is that how Miguning eats steak?

━Even elementary school kids don’t eat like that lol

Like a professional streamer, she made her viewers laugh.

BJMiguning closed her eyes and focused on the sound again.

Scrape scrape.

A faint yet distinct, familiar scraping sound.

‘That sound is like……’

At that moment.

A loud shout came from afar.

“It’s, it’s here!”

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