I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game

“What, what!? It’s all done…? Already? It’s only been ten days since I gave you the mission! And you’ve taken care of all three of them!?”

A few days later, I returned to the Chairman’s office.

Upon receiving the mission completion report, Lina jumped up from her seat, looking bewildered.

I nodded nonchalantly.

“Yes, it took a week for Gulliver’s Travels, two days for Beauty and the Beast, and six hours for Alice in Wonderland.”

“What? A week, two days, and six hours? How is that even possible…!? It wouldn’t have been strange if it took more than two weeks to clear just one of them.”

Lina’s face showed her confusion as she struggled to accept my report.

“It worked out just fine,” I said.

Indeed,

Out of all the difficult and complex quests that Chairman Lina had given me,

Only ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ was truly challenging.

The demon sealed within it was difficult to capture without the help of a giant.

However, thanks to Ichikawa Aki’s powers,

What would have normally taken multiple weeks to complete was wrapped up within a week.

As for the remaining two?

There were speedrun strategies for them.

First, ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

I was accompanied by Kang Do-hee and Sophia.

This one didn’t really require a strategy.

Just brute force your way through without worrying about the story.

As soon as you start attacking the Beast, he’ll immediately transform into a monster.

— Kaaaarrrrr!!!

If you trigger the transformation without watching the story,

The Beast becomes partially invincible to all attacks except physical strikes.

But that’s fine, because Do-hee only fights with her fists and feet anyway.

So it was a perfect match.

Do-hee, who possessed Belle, went toe-to-toe with the Beast in a fistfight,

While I took care of the teacups and teapots that tried to interfere.

And Sophia?

She stayed in the back, healing Do-hee with arrows whenever her health got low.

Just keep fighting without sleeping for two days, and it’s done.

— Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve had a decent opponent. The combat felt good.
— This… was tougher than I expected.

After two straight days of relentless brawling, Do-hee seemed to have relieved some stress and was in a good mood.

Sophia, on the other hand, who was in the healer role and didn’t have our level of endurance, collapsed from exhaustion.

Still, it was nice and simple, just fighting without any complicated thoughts.

And finally,

‘Alice in Wonderland’.

I was accompanied by Lee Yoo-ri and Shin Se-hee.

In this stage, the goal was to capture and defeat a caterpillar monster that used invisibility,

While navigating through a stage filled with complex mechanisms and puzzles.

Normally, this would be a time-consuming and laborious quest, but…

— Jin Yuha, are we really doing this?
— Yeah, it’s fine. We’re in the only spot that’s made of glass and doesn’t catch fire.
— No, I mean… Argh, fine! Here goes!

Whoosh!!!

We just burned down the entire stage.

Everything was made of wood and highly flammable.

Once Se-hee, who possessed Alice, set fire to a chair,

The flames quickly spread to the desks, bookshelves, floor, ceiling, and everything else.

Chirr!!!

The caterpillar, now in a panic, shot poison needles at us from the corners.

— Kaaaaaang!!!

But it was useless.

No matter how invisible it was or from what angle it attacked, Yoo-ri’s taunts drew all the attacks to her shield.

Ping!!!

— Jin Yuha, are you sure this is okay?
— It’s fine, I said. Oh, looks like it’s dead.

The invisible caterpillar wasn’t particularly durable, just tricky to hit.

So it died a pitiful death, screaming weakly, not long after the stage caught fire.

— Kiiieeeeeek…

And so, we were able to return to the library in just six hours.

— Jin Yuha, are you serious?
— Well, I remember Ga-eul and Ichika being together for quite a while… And Do-hee and Sophia for two days…
— Why? Was it too easy?

In fact, Se-hee and Yoo-ri, who had come with me, complained that it was too easy.

— It’s not that it was too easy, but… I mean, something… else! Something like that!

.

.

.

As I explained, Lina’s expression kept changing.

And when I finished my report, the words that came out of her mouth were:

“Are you crazy…?”

It was high praise.

“Huh? I’m not crazy, but anyway, I’ve completed all the tasks you assigned.”
“Y-Yeah… I acknowledge your…”

At that, Lina was about to bow her head in acknowledgment.

“Are you kidding me!? You crazy bastard!!!”

But instead, she roared like a lion.

“Huh?”
“What kind of missions were those!?”
“Hmm? The ones you couldn’t handle and left to a student to clean up?”
“……Ah, that’s not– It’s not like that! Those were meant to test my successor! And you dared to pass through with such underhanded methods!?”

‘Hmm.’

True to her nature as a stubborn old-timer, Lina was narrow-minded and couldn’t accept this quirky, revolutionary, and innovative speed-run strategy.

‘Well, I could just leave now if you want.’

After all, the missions were technically completed.

In games, when you speedrun like this, the grumpy old-timer might get angry at first, but eventually, they’ll just give in.

‘But I’m a bit different.’

Unlike in games, I had promised to seek her help later on.

‘To change the serious scenario, I can’t just follow the game exactly.’

It wouldn’t be good to let this affect our relationship.

‘So I brought something, though not just for this reason.’

“I’m truly sorry to disappoint you… It seems I’m not qualified to be your successor after all.”
“……What? What are you talking about?”

Lina stuttered, clearly not expecting this reaction from me.

Haaah—

I sighed deeply, rolled up my sleeves, and revealed the tattoo of the extra-dimensional pocket.

“Well, I brought this just in case… I didn’t think you’d be so disappointed.”

Jingle—

The sound of clear metal rang out as the locket necklace fell into my hand.

“!”

Lina’s eyes, purple like those of a grumpy old-timer, widened in surprise.

Swish swish.

As I swung the locket necklace in front of her,

Her eyes, under a trance-like spell, followed the locket’s movement.

But then, she snapped out of it and pointed at me.

“You! How did you get that!?”
“Do you know about this?”
“Give it back to me! That’s mine!!!”

She was truly flustered, forgetting to use magic, and instead reaching out with her short arms.

I simply raised my arm higher, out of her reach.

Flail flail.

Lina jumped, trying to reach the locket, but to no avail.

“Eek! Give it back!”
“Huh? What are you doing? This is my rightful reward for completing the missions.”
“I never intended for this to be the reward!!!”
“But I got it, didn’t I?”
“How did you… get that from the demon…?”

Yes. This was the locket necklace I obtained by delivering the finishing blow to the demon in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’.

Lina’s face contorted into an indescribable expression as she realized the locket’s origin.

“That demon… had this…”
“So, does that mean I’ve passed your test?”
“……”

Squeeze.

Lina clenched her jaw and glared at me.

But in the end, all she could say was:

“Fi… Fine, I’ll acknowledge you completed the mission, so please… just…”

‘……Hmm.’

Seeing Lina, who usually has her high and mighty attitude, bow down and beg me like this, I almost gave in to a mischievous thought.

“Here. Take it.”

However, I simply handed over the locket without any bargaining.

Lina stared at me, unable to believe what was happening, and then at the locket in her hand.

“……Are you… really giving it to me!?”
“Yes, I never intended to play with your memories. It’s precious to you, right? I saw your name engraved on the back, so I brought it back.”
“……”

In the game, there was no reward for this,

Just an increase in Lina’s favorability.

‘But how could I ignore her when she wants this so badly?’

So, regardless of her favorability, I had always planned to obtain the locket myself.

“Thank you, Jin Yuha.”

Lina held the locket close to her heart and bowed her head to me.

.

.

.

Late at night, when everyone was asleep, a dim light illuminated the Chairman’s office.

Lina sat there, holding a glass of alcohol and muttering to herself.

“Damn that kid… How did he find this?”

She stared at the locket on her wrist.

“Where did this go…? So it was there all along…”

On the back of the locket was her name.

[ LINA ]

Click—

She opened the locket, and inside was a face.

A face that resembled hers closely.

“If you bring this to me, what can I say…?”

Squeeze.

Lina clutched the locket to her heart.

A sense of gratitude toward Jin Yuha spread within her like a drop of ink in water.