The Villain is Too Good at Sniping

66. The Request Board (1)

As I walked down the corridor, I expected it, but the request board was more crowded than I thought, with over a hundred students gathered.

“What’s going on! Get out of the way!”

“I was here first!”

“No, I got here first. Don’t talk nonsense and get out of the way!”

The scene was like something out of a fantasy world, with dozens of students tangled together.

It was like looking at the entrance exam or an offline ticketing event on Earth.

Strictly speaking, it was an “open run.” The request board had just opened, and whoever grabbed the request first got it. As time passed, it became harder to find good requests.

Just then, I sensed a familiar presence.

A few steps away, Serin Anett was standing. I thought it was a coincidence, but when I thought about it again, it didn’t seem like one.

Anyway, Serin Anett was my manitto, and she was helping me from an unknown place.

If I didn’t pretend not to know, other students would suspect Serin Anett of being my manitto just by looking at her behavior.

“Hmm.”

Serin Anett gave me a glance. I responded with a slight nod, and Serin Anett approached me a few steps.

“It’s quite a coincidence to run into you here.”

“…Yeah, it’s amazing.”

It’s harder than I thought to pretend not to know someone, and it seems that not everyone can put on a poker face.

“Are you here for a request?”

“Of course. And you, Serin?”

“No, I was just passing by. But what a good timing we met.”

Serin Anett pulls out a request form from her bag.

It’s a situation where anyone could suddenly intervene, but only Serin Anett could pull it off.

I knew what she would say next.

“I happened to pick up a request form while passing by, but I don’t have anyone to do it with. If you’re here to receive a request and haven’t found anyone to work with yet… why don’t we do it together?”

I knew this because it’s how it went in the original story.

This scene has been repeated countless times.

“…I picked up a request form while passing by. I’m looking for someone to do it with. If you haven’t found a suitable request yet—”

“Sorry, but I have a prior engagement.”

“…What?”

“Can you move aside?”

I left behind a flustered Serin Anett and pushed my way through the crowd of students.

I appreciate her trying to help me, but unfortunately, I have a prior commitment. I pushed my way through the students with both hands.

“What’s going on with you?!”

“No, don’t suddenly cut in like that!”

There were some who occasionally glared at me, but when they saw my face, they pretended not to know me. It seemed that the trauma from the entrance exam was still valid.

Through [Ki-gam], I estimated that I was near the center of the student crowd.

“…Where are you, anyway?”

She must be somewhere around here, but even with [Thousand-Mile Eyes], I couldn’t see where she was.

No matter where I looked, I only saw students in uniform. There were many who were taller than me. The pink-haired girl was hard to find, like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I finally operated my watch and called Iri.

The signal was brief, and the call connected quickly. I looked at my watch.

[Where are you?]

[Oh! You’re here?! I’m over here!]

[Where?]

[Here! Here! Can you see me now?!]

I briefly looked away from my watch and stood on tiptoes.

Someone was jumping up and down among the students of various colors.

The pink hair flashed briefly before being swept away by the crowd.

I hung up the call and pushed my way through the crowded students. I headed in the direction where Iri was.

When the faint pink hair came into view, I held my breath and sprinted towards her. This was the manifestation of the secondary ability “Agile Body” from my obtained trait [Hunter’s Intuition].

“Shion!”

“Why are you hiding in a place like this? You’re hard to find.”

“No way! I’ve been here for two hours already. Suddenly, people started pouring in, and it became like this…”

Rumors about the request board being opened had been circulating for quite some time.

Iri had been preparing for ticketing, sitting in this spot for hours, and managed to get one request, but was trapped among the freshmen and couldn’t escape on time.

“Why do people risk their lives for the request board?”

Well…

“It’s a legitimate chance to get out of Arsene.”

“I thought I was the only one who thought that way.”

“Everyone’s desperate to get out, aren’t they?”

Arsene’s curriculum was harsh and strict.

First-year students wouldn’t get permission to go out until much later. Usually, they could leave Arsene around the start of the semester break, but it was still far away.

From the entrance exam to the mock dungeon conquest and the extreme survival training…

Most students would long for freedom during the training process and miss the outside air they didn’t even think about before.

As I said, first-year students wouldn’t get permission to go out until much later. Until then, they were stuck in Arsene.

So, the next best option was to pick a suitable request from the board and go out to have some fun before returning.

As long as they returned within the time limit, it would be considered an ongoing mission according to the rules.

That’s why some students would intentionally fail their missions from time to time.

But, well, this was something Arsene would overlook. After all, the penalty for mission failure was borne by the students themselves, so Arsene didn’t need to intervene.

“Anyway, did you get the request?”

“Yes! Here it is!”

“No, no, someone might take it, so don’t take it out yet. Just keep it safe until we leave.”

The crowd swarming like a wave was still quite intimidating when I saw it again.

I had no idea where to start, and my [intuition] was also silent, as if dead, so I had to rely on myself to get out of this situation.

If I got swept away in this situation, it would take a long time to regroup.

“…Just for a moment, what do we do?”

“We need to grab onto something.”

“But our school uniforms are a bit unstable.”

“Then…”

As I was hesitating for a moment, Iri carefully reached out her hand. I grabbed it and pushed through the crowd.

The pressure from the crowd was like a subway during rush hour, and we could easily get swept away.

But I managed to keep my center and moved forward slowly, and for a moment, I lost my footing due to the pressure from behind.

Whoa-

I barely regained my balance and looked up to see Iri’s face right in front of me.

Our breaths touched.

Iri couldn’t keep her eyes still, and I pretended not to notice and grabbed her hand again, pushing through the crowd of students.

…Getting out of the crowd of students was quite a difficult task.

***

A little later, at Arsene’s main gate.

The guard, who was resting like a checkpoint, stopped us.

“Just a moment, please.”

“Yes!”

Iri, who was standing next to me, took out the request form from her pocket. When she scanned the barcode at the bottom, a pleasant alarm sounded.

Beep-beep!

“Ah, you’re the one who’s been commissioned. You can go now.”

“Yes, thank you!”

“Then, be careful on your way.”

Airi and I crossed the main gate of Arsen for the first time that day.

It was my first time doing so. When I rode in Professor Viehn’s car, I entered through the back gate and headed straight to the guesthouse.

That’s where I met Rebecca and took the entrance exam. I met the main characters of this world, including Kyle. Looking back, a lot had happened.

Beyond Arsen’s main gate, the road connecting to the Alphen district.

Airi, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped in her tracks. Then, she started checking her watch.

I asked her, wondering if something was wrong.

“Do you know the way?”

“I’ll figure it out from now on. Hmm…….”

She turned on the map app installed on her watch and input our destination. We followed the navigation-like guidance and walked along the long road.

I remembered that there was a platform around here. It was a public transportation system similar to a high-speed bus.

We walked for about 15 minutes, checking the map and looking around.

In the middle of the mountain path, we saw a single train platform. There were other students waiting, so I thought it must be the place I saw in the original story.

I went ahead and sat down in an empty chair.

“Let’s wait here.”

“Huh? There’s no sign or anything. How do we know the time?”

“There won’t be any signs, but it’ll come every 30 minutes. It’s 12 pm now, so maybe…….”

Choo-choo!

Just then, a light appeared in the distance.

It was a self-propelled train running on magic. In this world, they simply called it the “Magic Train”.

I waited for a bit and looked at Airi, who let out a relieved sigh.

“What’s wrong? We should get on now.”

“Yeah, let’s…….”

We got on the train, our bodies swaying slightly. At least we could rest a bit on the train.

***

The seats on the Magic Train were more comfortable than I expected.

The legroom was spacious, and the backrest was soft, making it perfect for a comfortable ride.

Even the sofa at the guesthouse wasn’t as comfortable as this.

“Wow… Did you see that, Si-on?”

Airi was excited, being her first time outside of Arsen.

Like a child taking their first train ride, Airi stuck her face to the window.

Indeed, just as Airi said.

“The view is great.”

I leaned back against the seat. The gentle sound of the train was like a natural lullaby.

I closed my eyes, feeling the fatigue that had been building up suddenly wash over me.

“…Are you sleeping?”

“…….”

“Have you come all this way just to sleep?”

Iriga, annoyed, didn’t respond and simply tapped his forehead with his index finger.

For a moment, I felt an urge to bite him, but I just opened one eye and replied.

“Why.”

“This is the first time I’ve gone out since enrolling. It’s a waste to spend it sleeping.”

“Time is the same no matter how you spend it. As long as I’m satisfied, that’s all that matters.”

“But I can’t accept that. Since we’re going out, we should enjoy ourselves properly.”

What’s the point if you don’t accept it?

“For me, this is relaxation.”

“Going out like this is relaxation. Is relaxation difficult?”

“Of course it is…….”

But as I looked at him, I couldn’t help but feel curious.

People’s personalities are vastly different, but there’s a way to roughly gauge it, and that’s through Arsen.

“This is just out of curiosity, but what was your personality test result when you enrolled?”

“Um… I think it was E?”

“I’m I.”

He replied vaguely and closed his eyes again.

One thing’s for sure: Iriga and I have fundamentally opposing personalities.

I could hear Iriga mumbling something, but… this time, I really did well.