Chapter 6: Unconscious Comrade

Firstly… I need to find my partner?

…

‘World’, are you s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with me? I already combed an entire half of the academy, but I have yet to see anyone that’s awake.

And in the latter part of the procedure, you told me to wake my partner up.

You think I have not tried it yet?

I didn’t dare to test it on Irlin and the girls. After trying to shake some people awake a few times, I grabbed one unlucky person in the hallway, and poured ice-cold water on him several times.

In the end, he still did not wake up.

I even used Stun Dispel, but he still did not have any sort of reaction.

In other words, it won’t work if it’s just anyone in this situation. It seems I have to find a specific person.

Are you serious? There’s so many people in the academy. Do I really have to pour a bucket of water onto each and every person I see? Or do I have to use my magic on everyone?

It would be good if there’s a hint or something.

…

Wait, don’t I have a weird skill that I have yet to try?

I quickly opened my skill list, and scrolled down to the bottom. It’s a skill that was unlocked along with the Famous Detective t.i.tle before. It allows me to view any hidden clues that’s within 10 meters from my position.

When I tapped on it, the hint was not anything in my surroundings, but my UI!

I tapped to expand my UI, and on it, the friend list was glowing.

This is considered as a hint?

I opened the friend list, and I realized the format was completely different than before.

The top portion consists of otherworlders like Aliyah, Dale and Yuon, and the bottom portion consists of the inhabitants of this world. And below the otherworlders’ avatars, there’s an additional mail icon… Is this the Message System it was talking about?

Seems to be a pretty good feature. This is getting similar to the MMO system, as we could send messages to each other or something.

But…

Is this useful now?

I tried clicking on the b.u.t.ton, but there wasn’t any response.

Just what kind of hint is this? Geez… Eh?

When I looked at the friend list carefully, someone’s name was different than the rest.

Aliyah.

The border of her avatar was actually green, while the rest were all in grey.

This is the hint? These avatars have always been here, but I did not really pay attention to them much.

Unless there’s a special function to it?

I tapped on Aliyah’s avatar, and suddenly, a green arrow appeared on my mini-map!

Distance from Target: 1,128m

There was even a small notification at the bottom. This basically feels like it’s provoking me, ‘Hey, you see this? This is the place you have to go, yo. Other than heading there, you have no other choice~’

d.a.m.n it. However, since the situation is like this, if I were to collate all the hints I have so far, my only conclusion is that Aliyah is the answer I’m looking for.

This is really a straightforward and easy-to-understand hint. With this thought in mind, I immediately tapped on ‘Accelerate’ and headed towards the direction of my target.

…

Hey hey hey, as a young girl, what’s with that sleeping posture?

When I reached my destination, what I saw was a white haired girl lying on the table with a fork in her hand. And there were still strands of noodles circling around the fork.

Alright, I can understand that you blacked out while eating, but please… Don’t bury your face onto that plate of pasta.

Even though they were originally white twin-tails that glimmer splendidly, but now, they’re completely stained with ketchup, and they seem to blend with the pasta.

And with a situation like this, she’s actually sleeping quite peacefully. Just how the h.e.l.l does one breathe like that? Through the ears?

In any case, with a personality like hers, if she were to wake up and find herself like that, and realized I saw her in that state, she will definitely beat me to death. Before she wakes up, I better clean her up.

I pulled her up from the table, and straightened her on the chair.

As I expected, her entire face was filled with sauce. But she’s really sleeping rather peacefully. Occasionally, she licks the sauce on her lips, and gives a silly smile.

Just what kind of good dream is she having?

Or is she actually an idiot?

Ah, whatever. Let’s start cleaning up her face.

I took a serviette from the table beside me, and cleaned off the sauce on her face.

However, when I finished cleaning her face and was about to clean her hair, my hand was grabbed!

“You, what are you doing to me?”

“… Good morning?”

“Is this really the time to say ‘Good morning’!?”

After that, she attacked me with her leg. Fortunately, I already prepared myself, and I charged backwards the moment I entered my battle state.

Are you serious? I’m LV 18, and even if I don’t have any stat enhancements for being a No Cla.s.s, I still wouldn’t have any problems avoiding an attack by a LV 14 Dual-swordsman.

“It’s obviously morning right now. And while you’re probably accusing me for doing something I did not do, who do you think slept on a plate of pasta last night?”

“Hah? Who would sleep on a plate… of… pasta…”

As she was talking, her line of sight fell onto the table next to her.

Probably thinking of something, her words slowed down, and her face became as red as a tomato.

She seemed to have remembered.

She raised her hands and touched her face, after that, she touched her hair.

“Ah ah… And here I was wondering why I was dreaming of a world filled with pasta… Unless… I slept directly on it… For an entire night… Ah Ah Aaaah.”

“Alright, hurry up and clean off your hair. A girl’s hair is a girl’s life, after all.”

After saying that, I pa.s.sed the remaining serviette to her.

She looked at me for quite a good while, but she still blushed as she accepted the serviette, and began cleaning.

“How did you know?”

“Un?”

“The words you said earlier.”

“You’re referring to ‘A girl’s hair is a girl’s life’?”

“Yeah… After hearing that, it sounds like one of the top 10 phrases a playboy usually use.”

“Hey hey, I kindly reminded you, but you actually make me sound like a bad guy.”

“Aren’t you one? Why would you especially come all the way here just to help me… help me clean off my face or whatever… You… You didn’t touch anywhere else, right?”

“Where else can I touch? You’re as flat as… Hey hey hey, your sword is in flames! I’m just joking!”

“Idiot!”

She immediately ran towards the kitchen, and I could hear the sound of water flowing.

3 minutes later, Aliyah came out from the door, and there were water droplets on her twintails.

“It wouldn’t be possible to clean off the stain with just tissues! Idiot!”

“Yes yes… oh right, about those words.”

“Un?”

“I can’t remember who told me that. Even though I remembered the phrase, yet I can’t remember the person who said it. Haha.”

“… You’re the same as well?”

Aliyah suddenly said.

“Eh?”

“You… Do you remember the names of your relatives, friends, or any other important people?”

When she unexpectedly said that, a cold chill ran down my spine.

Names…

Why did I not realize this problem earlier?

Although most of my other memories are incomplete, however, I still have blur images of them.

However… Only the names were completely forgotten.

“None at all…”

‘World’… Just what the h.e.l.l did you take away from us?

“Is that so… Haha, don’t reveal such an expression. Oh right, hurry up and explain to me the current situation. Did you actually come here specifically to wake me up? The situation around us isn’t that simple, right?”

“Oh, you’re right, there’s no point frustrating about this right now. But I did come here to specifically wake you up.”

Partner located. Quest sharing in progress.

…

Sharing complete.

Quest continues.

Aliyah was startled for a bit, and then, she tapped in the air a few times.

After a while, her expression became stern.

“Seems pretty interesting, huh.”

“You have the same thoughts as well?”

“Alright, let’s deal with it then!”