I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error

Chapter 133

I had been absorbed in games since I was a child.

While others ran and played in the playground, I had hunted monsters inside a monitor.

When my friends heatedly talked about soccer, I had been the one poring over gaming articles alone.

In a life where I had barely done any sports at all, I had never once imagined a day would come when I would hold a golf club.

Golf had belonged to a world completely unrelated to me.

My first impression of actually playing golf was……. Chapters fırst released on novelfire(.)net

“Golf is surprisingly fun.”

I had exclaimed in genuine amazement.

At first I had struggled even to hit the ball, but after repeating it a few times my sense had begun to come together.

When the ball had hit exactly where I had aimed, a thrilling rush and a burst of dopamine had followed, proof that my sense had worked.

“Maybe I had some talent after all.”

I had thought while watching the ball fly in the direction I wanted.

Yes, the ball I had sent flying was none other than Kunking.

“Ugh—!”

The flying Kunking had been slammed onto the ground.

“Guh! Hah! Hah……”

“Nice birdie.”

No, it really was fun.

I had even thought about making a small golf course back on the farm after exams.

I had walked toward where Kunking had fallen and rolled my shoulder.

Each time I had approached, Kunking’s eyes had grown wider and wider.

“……I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll actually beat you to death!”

“If you talk while it’s flying your tongue will get chewed off. I don’t care if you do or not. Keeping your mouth shut would only hurt you.”

I had pressed the Heart of Ilawne against its side, then positioned myself and steadied my breath as if taking a golf swing.

A card belonging to Ramji that had been between my fingers had started to glow.

‘Ramji!’

Paang―!

A strong gust of wind had exploded between the Heart of Ilawne and Kunking’s body.

“I’ll kill you…… Kueeeeeek―!”

“Oh…… beautiful shot.”

The fast-moving Kunking had drawn an artistic arc through the air and then crashed down as if thrown.

I had seen a puddle of rotten water not far away.

“This shot will need good focus.”

If I had compressed Ramji’s gust at the tip of the Heart of Ilawne and detonated it, I could control the power and direction.

Thanks to that I had been able to fling Kunking like a golf ball.

The problem had been aiming.

Where Kunking flew could vary wildly with even the slightest difference.

To send Kunking where I wanted, the position to detonate the gust, my stance, and my breath had all needed to align perfectly.

I had stood in front of Kunking, breathed deeply, and gripped the Heart of Ilawne firmly with both hands.

Kunking had looked toward the puddle not far away, and with frantic breathing it had opened its mouth.

“I am…… not a toy……!”

“If you lose focus you’ll fall into the bunker. Don’t talk to me.”

“I’m not in the mood to joke. Don’t do it before I kill you. I said don’t. Do nooooot—!”

“Ugh, I told you not to speak.”

Plop―!

I had clicked my tongue as I watched Kunking fly into the greenish puddle and sink.

Pulling Kunking out of there had made me break a sweat too.

Kunking, who had barely gotten out of the puddle, lay sprawled on the ground covered head to toe in green slime.

“Why are you doing this……. What is your purpose, Dedenkman…….”

“Are you that curious?”

I had straightened my breathing and lifted a corner of my mouth.

“I’ll tell you if you repeat after me.”

I had crouched and looked down at Kunking’s face.

“Now, repeat after me. ‘I am a ball.’”

“…….”

From the expression carved with deep rage it had looked like Kunking would crush me at any moment.

But what could it do—its body had been immobilized.

“……I am …… a ball.”

Half resigned, suppressing its anger and swallowing the words, Kunking had spat them out, and I had quietly nodded.

“Good, you were a ball.”

I had stood up, got into my golf swing stance again, and looked down at it as I slowly spoke.

“I was here for the purpose of hitting a ball.”

“You bastard……! Khaaaak―!”

After watching Kunking fly away, I had checked the surrounding terrain.

‘There wasn’t much left now.’

I had decided to use Ramji’s gust to send Kunking into the ‘cave’ like hitting a golf ball.

‘Other cadets might have used a more convenient method.’

I had lacked the mana to properly handle spells.

I neither had the stamina to carry that muscular body nor the patience to drag it along.

Using Ramji’s wind to fling Kunking had been the most appropriate way to move it.

Before long I had found the small cave I wanted, and after a few tries I had managed to put Kunking inside and stepped in.

“I will never forget this humiliation. I will definitely smash you to pieces, Dedenkman……!”

I had let Kunking’s threats pass by one ear and quietly inspected the surroundings.

The cave had been cozier than I had expected.

It felt less like a deep, damp cave and more like a small secret hideout for children.

The entrance’s ceiling had been relatively low so I had had to crouch to enter, but once inside there had been enough space for two or three people to lie down.

Smoothly worn rock walls, thin moss covering the floor, and faintly filtering sunlight had left little sense of gloom.

It had been a place quite decent for someone to stay.

“Oh, truly fitting of the gloomy Dedenkman. Were you planning to quietly deal with this in this cave so no one would find out?”

Kunking had muttered something, but I had ignored it as well and headed toward the cave entrance.

‘Boogie.’

Thud―!

In an instant a thin earthen wall had risen that had blocked about half of the entrance, its thickness only finger-width.

I had stepped outside the cave, leaned my back against the wall, and put a little force into it.

‘……It was sturdy enough to support leaning against.’

This time I had clenched my fist and struck it down.

Thud―!

The wall had shattered and collapsed at once.

‘It could be broken easily…… this should be enough.’

I rebuilt the same kind of wall as before, blocking half of the entrance.

Then I opened the Subspace and pulled out the vines I had picked up here and there on the way here.

There had been especially many vines and moss around the entrance of this cave.

I slowly covered the entrance by hanging the vines one by one so they tangled over the wall.

When I attached the last leaf, a satisfied smile spread across my lips.

I stepped back a few paces and looked at the scenery as a whole.

The cave entrance was dyed with nature’s green glow, a camouflage so perfect it was barely noticeable.

‘Not bad. It would be hard to notice.’

Unless someone already knew this was the entrance, they wouldn’t easily find it.

“Hey.”

Kunking’s voice came.

Had he noticed I was doing something to the entrance?

With the sun at my back, I looked down at Kunking, who lay sprawled inside the cave.

Unable to contain himself, he opened his mouth.

“Stop your tricks and just take me if you’re going to, you bastard!”

“Not necessary.”

“…What?”

Kunking’s eyes shook violently at my answer.

I only looked at him silently.

After a moment of silence, Kunking’s gaze slowly changed.

At first it had been anger, then confusion, and finally, an unknown wariness flashed across.

He clenched his teeth slowly and muttered in a low voice.

“Then what…… If you weren’t after my points, and don’t even need me……”

Kunking trailed off and bit his lips hard.

All sorts of emotions tangled on his face as subtle conflict flickered there.

His trembling body was still pinned to the ground, unable to move at all.

He spat out words in a voice grinding with frustration.

“Why did you do this? What are you thinking, Dedenkman? The reason you moved me all the way here…… Don’t tell me, you……”

“Well, that’s not something you need to know.”

I tossed him a container filled with water.

It rolled to a stop beside his head.

With the faint sunlight at my back, I quietly locked eyes with him.

“Endure well for two days.”

With those words, I sealed the rest of the cave entrance with Boogie’s wall.

Only after closing off the cave did I head southwest.

If I kept alternating between walking and running like this, it would probably only take a few hours to reach the Tree House.

‘I’m so exhausted I could pass out right away.’

I had wanted to collapse immediately, but there was always a possibility.

If Karin had her points stolen by another cadet, she would not make it into the Alchemy Department.

Karin’s admission into the Alchemist course was one of the key events.

To protect that, I had to keep going.

‘Kunking’s side…… that should be enough.’

Suddenly I recalled Kunking’s eyes before I had sealed the cave entrance with the earthen wall.

If I had blocked the entrance completely, not only would it be impossible to tell day from night, but even the oxygen inside the cave would not circulate properly.

So I had left a small hole and covered it with vines to conceal it.

The faint light filtering through the vines would at least let him distinguish between day and night.

If he stayed in that cave, there would be no risk of monsters and no chance of other cadets discovering him.

Kunking would not lose his points.

‘Two days or so…… he should endure just fine. By tomorrow he’d be able to move slowly, and by the day after he’d almost be recovered.’

The reason I had helped him wasn’t something as simple as pity.

Kunking’s entry into the Elite Department ‘Finders’ was one of the important pillars of the story.

I had only been protecting that.

‘And it’s not like I need points right now anyway.’

Compared to other departments, graduation was easier and classes were more relaxed in the Common Magic Department, which suited me perfectly.

‘Anyway…… the main episode that had been a total mess seems to have been preserved somehow.’

Fortunately, there had been no casualties, and Kunking would be admitted into Finders.

Clang, clang―.

As I headed southwest, a bell sound occasionally rang inside my head.

Each time I heard it, I kept cautious of my surroundings and moved with my body low.

Because of the fire in the west, the cadets’ range of activity had naturally been narrowed.

On the way back to the Tree House, I had thought I might run into other cadets, but thanks to Ramji’s Danger Sense skill, I encountered neither cadets nor monsters.

Thanks to that, the return trip to the Tree House had been far easier than expected.

‘It seems the fire didn’t spread as badly as I thought.’

I had thought the north had been completely consumed by flames, but that wasn’t the case.

The starting point of the fire seemed to have been not the northern edge, but between the central and northern regions.

From there, it had spread east and west, but had been suppressed quickly enough to stop it from engulfing the whole island.

On the path heading southwest, there had been no signs of fire damage at all.

Each time I heard the bell, I also wondered what the “enemy” defined by the system really meant.

‘The cadets aren’t my enemies, but in the Comprehensive Exam are they perceived as enemies?’

It seemed to be applied variably depending on the situation I perceived.

Danger Sense had identified cadets as enemies.

Thanks to avoiding them, I had reached the southwest without encountering even a single cadet.

The sky was already painted in the colors of dusk.

‘Am I almost there?’

At last, as I walked further, familiar paths began to unfold before me near the Tree House.

……At that moment, something silver swiftly approached me.

Mii~

It was the rare creature I had first seen at the Well, the Silent White Fawn.

“What, did you come out to greet me?”

I petted the deer’s head as it leaned naturally against my arm.

“……Ah!”

At that moment, a familiar voice came.

“Villed!”

I turned toward the sound.

There, Lapin and Karin were running toward me.

Explaining to them where I had been, why I had gone, and whether I had survived, with all their questions pouring in, was more exhausting than walking all the way here.

Well, whatever.

For now, I just needed to sleep……

……And so, two days passed without trouble.

The grand finale of the first year, the Comprehensive Exam, came to a safe end.