Chapter 72: Effective Use of a Protagonist
A student would gain maximum merit points with minimum effort if they could chain the low-level missions together. Eren was aiming to do exactly that.
Generally, the low-level missions would be released every day and get refreshed within a week. That meant there were around seven sets of missions for each day of the week. Each type would be released on that specific day and would be available for the next week after someone had claimed them.
But that also meant students would need to wait for a day or in the worst case an entire week to claim these low-level missions if someone pulls a fast one on them and takes all such missions from a particular set for themselves. Eren was going to claim all these low-risk-high-return missions in one go so that he could earn maximum merit points during this week.
Eren had stolen this idea from Ken Riverine of the past timeline. In that timeline, he was the one who took all the newbie missions to himself and faced the wrath of second-year students who were aiming for these exact missions.
Eren first went to Besanc’s public restroom. He secured a cubicle and called forth his demon beast that was hanging by his neck in the form of a necklace. He had brought her here for a very special purpose. Not to attack someone but to make a fool out of his seniors.
The Butcher told Reen to coat his body in such a way that he looked taller and muscular. He had an image in his mind and Reen could see it with her mental connection with him. So she knew how Eren wanted her to make him take the shape of.
This process only had one flaw even when the shape and stature of a person were nailed down to a T. and that was the way Eren looked. He still looked like a devil who seemed to have a blurred body.
Eren was yet to overcome this drawback. But he already had a plan in his mind. His blurred body would not cause any problem if it can’t be seen. He did not do anything with his face. But changed into a full-sleeve cotton s.h.i.+rt and wore a hooded jacket over it before covering most of his face with it. His legs seemed weird due to Reen’s leg extensions to make him look taller than he was but they were covered with his loose pants.
Eren looked completely different from his usual appearance. He got out of the restroom after confirming his look. Then he went near the big screen and his personal Besanc spectral screen got automatically in sync with it.
Eren immediately filtered out a list of all the missions that had the minimum BTP value of 14. There were 49 such unclaimed missions. 30 missions belonged to today’s set. And remaining ones were pending missions from the day before, which would soon be allowed to get claimed by senior students.
Eren accepted a huge lot of the missions in one go. They appeared on his personal Besanc screen with the tag of ‘pending’ in front of them. They all had a time limit of a week. He’d face a penalty of merit points in case he fails to complete them during that window.
A huge chunk of screen s.p.a.ce on the big spectral screen was blanked out right after that. It was a very eye-catching scene. Eren had not claimed all the missions. He purposely left a few missions for a certain someone.
Just as he thought, Eren’s claiming of sweet-pie missions had created a commotion in the Besanc common hall. This had to be done by a first-year newbie because the missions that had disappeared were not open to senior years by then.
A lot of senior students were angry. They had just lost a stable source of merit points income because of a single first-year.
The students were angry at Eren not only because he had accepted all these missions without caring about them but also because they didn’t dare to do so when they were in their first year. They felt that Eren was breaking the tradition they were forced to follow.
One such person from the senior year couldn’t keep quiet after experiencing the brazen breach of the unwritten rule observed among all of the LA’s students by a mere first-year who hadn’t even completed a week on the academy grounds. He forcefully suppressed his rage from seeping into his voice before addressing Eren:
“Kid, I suggest you drop the missions that you’ve taken just now and make them go unclaimed again. You will lose some merit points as a penalty but it won’t be that much since the time of acceptance and release is almost negligent.
Do this and we’ll forgive your disrespect towards your seniors instantly. Refuse, and we’ll make sure that your first year becomes a “memorable” experience for you if you know what I mean. So, what will it be?”
Eren heard the threatening speech coming from behind him and couldn’t help smiling wickedly under his hood. He feared there’s no retaliation and his efforts to take on an altered visage would go to waste. Thank the devil there was one such side character still available in the hall.
“These missions are meant to be taken by first-year students. Why are you trying to complete them instead of claiming the missions with higher BTP requirements and bigger rewards?”
“That’s none of your business, you arrogant brat. Just consider it as a way to respect your seniors. Now release the missions you’ve taken just now. I might let you keep one or two of them if you behave obediently. Or…!”
“Or what? I don’t care about seniority, you pathetic piece of s.h.i.+t. I’m not releasing any of the missions I’ve taken so far. And not only this set. I’ll come again to claim the next set of such missions. And a set after that. What will you do about it? What CAN you do about it?”
Eren insulted the guy and claimed that he’d come again to claim missions from the upcoming sets. The guy was incensed after hearing Eren’s naked disrespect towards his seniors. By then other seniors had joined the guy who had stopped Eren.
The group of seniors had decided that this rude first-year had to be taught a lesson. They would have never imagined in their dreams that a newbie would dare to not only raise his voice against the seniors but also diss them in such a way.
“Brat, I see that you’ve become a little rusty in your manners. Never mind. Life in the academy can teach you many things.
You have to go inside the forest to complete your missions right. Make sure you don’t trip over something. Otherwise, the bones of your hands and legs might get broken, you know. Hahaha!”
The senior student spoke and chuckled to himself. He was joined by other seniors who had started jeering at him. Eren didn’t have a shred of anger in his voice. He replied with the same calmness that his body was oozing out at the time.
“Are your threats even threatening enough if you have to say them in such a roundabout way? What can I expect from a fat-a.s.s senior like you?
Have the guts to state your threats openly if you have b.a.l.l.s between your legs, you scared little chickens. If you want to come at me, fokin come at me with all you got. Don’t try to brag your a.s.s in front of your crowd. Why don’t you cut off your limp d*cks if all you seniors can ever do is shame your manhoods by trying to scare a first-year student with your words and miserably failing at it?”
More seniors had started circling the duo of Eren and the guy who was facing all his taunts head-on. The faces of all the seniors were twisted after they heard Eren’s blasphemous words. Before the senior student who has spoken till now could voice his rage, another second-year student had come forward and spoke with more authority than the former:
“That’s it, kid. Do you want naked threats? I’ll give you naked threats. Drop the missions you’ve taken just now and we’ll spare you after roughing you up in the forest.
Otherwise, forget about walking effortlessly for the coming weeks. We’ll f*ck you so bad, you won’t be able to get out of your dorm room, much less take on any more missions.”
The crowd of seniors heard a vicious laugh coming from the first-year guy standing right in the middle of them without any worry. They got tense after hearing his next words:
“Hahahaha! It’s the first time in my life that I’ve received a direct threat. This was fun. Come then. I’ll take you on. The forest will be our battleground.
I’ll teach you that there’s no such thing as “seniority” that you so cherish and go gaga over without having sufficient power to back it up.
And remember the name of the guy who will be kind enough to teach you this hard lesson in life.
It’s Riverine. Ken Riverine.”