“It’s a dream, it must be a dream!!”
Without even realizing she was in the middle of the dark forest, Mariel screamed.
In the blink of an eye, she found herself unable to post anything in the gallery, neither comments nor posts.
She immediately wrote a query on the reporting bulletin board, the only communication channel where the submit button was available.
Her fingers trembled with withdrawal symptoms, leading to several mistakes in manipulating the Witch Note, but her emotions were clearly conveyed.
====
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: Just what is this!! Why do I suddenly have to be blocked?!
— Administrator: To teach you a lesson. Take it and unblock yourself.
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: There are plenty of other applicants, why do I, who have been quiet, have to go through this?!
— Administrator: They didn’t score above 10 points, so they’re not eligible.
====
10 points? She couldn’t fathom what that meant at all.
She hadn’t spammed, she hadn’t harassed anyone; occasionally, she might have ridiculed the nobles from behind.
Was it her tone? But here, there are plenty of lunatics more engrossed in concepts beyond that of a lady showing aristocratic airs!
It was a feeling of unjustly becoming a fallen angel banished from paradise.
Grrr…
“Eek!?”
As the howls of beasts echoed in the darkness, Mariel quickly hid behind a tree.
Disconnected from reality, the forest was a source of terror for her now.
Stepping back, she cautiously wrote another comment to persuade the Administrator.
Considering him a more rational person than the average forum user, she believed they could resolve the issue through conversation.
====
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: Don’t do that, let’s resolve it through our own words. If I did something wrong, I apologize.
— Administrator: There’s nothing in particular, and there are some benefits to being blocked.
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: What good could there be to be stopped by those who exploit 24-hour unpaid labor, coercion tactics, nuclear erasers, etc.?
— Administrator: Welfare…? I think I haven’t been doing enough, so I plan to expand it gradually.
====
Welfare? Was that what he meant by saying they could meet each other?
Honestly, if she didn’t feel intrigued after reading the announcement, it would be a lie.
A face-to-face encounter with the Tower Master, or the Administrator, who may have equivalent magical skills, was something that every magician in the Magic Tower desperately desires.
But even that was meaningless to Mariel.
Being the only one among her peers staying on the first floor, it would be ridiculous to aim for the other floors of the Tower.
A banquet hosted by the Administrator?
Far from delving into the Mysteries of a School, she hadn’t even mastered basic magic and was still wandering aimlessly in a dark forest.
Such things were rewards as elusive as dreams from a distant world.
====
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: Instead of nonsense, unblock me. If you do it now, I’ll even send you a nice picture of my pretty face.
— Administrator: It’s tempting as a 2-pointer, but it’s unnecessary. Anyway, you’re really not going to do it, are you?
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: Yes, I would focus on climbing the Tower after quitting the forum.
— Administrator: Hmm…
====
In the end, she maintained her refusal until the end, preserving her integrity and pride.
Even if he didn’t unblock her, there was some calculation behind it.
‘I should tell the supervisor I lost the Witch Note when I return.’
Considering her Witch Note was suspended for 999 days, creating a new account as if it were lost would suffice.
She couldn’t use the ID she’d been using, but she could continue to participate in the forum.
True to her character as SuperGeniusBlondeGirl, she believed it was a genius idea without a doubt.
As she laughed triumphantly at her ingenious plan, she noticed the posts appearing on the forum.
At that moment, Mariel realized she had underestimated him.
====
ㅇㅇ(1.1)
[About the Holcroft or Confrost family]
Am I the only one who thinks even the naming seems lame?
— What’s with suddenly mentioning a family?
— Yeah, it sounds lame hahaha
ㄴ Five letters don’t really stick, do they? lol.
— Wasn’t Holcroft supposed to be the Count of Jehepf region? They were usually pretty.
ㄴ Jehepf’s not on the map anymore.
ㄴ Why?
ㄴ They were erased by the royal family; the 4th Prince’s fiancée’s family was destroyed there.
ㄴ So most nobles don’t even bother, and some hate Holcroft because they cut off their line.
====
====
SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl
[From now on, I will serve as the forum’s mascot.]
Please take care of me~
— I’m asking for your favor~
— What’s with this concept again?
— Looks like she got banned again, seeing how she’s popping up like a ghost.
ㄴ Really? Looked it up, it says banned for 999 days lol
====
====
ㅇㅇ(1.1)
[I’ve come to send you on the thorny path of leaving 4,000 comments]
She confidently posted even though she went into the Dark Forest alone, but as she approached the entrance, she was suddenly caught by a mole and dragged into the ground in an instant.
After a last scream, there was no further contact.
Be careful even during the alchemy class group projects.
— Beam
— Triple Beam
— Ah, she really made an artistic exit even when leaving…
— Hey… this wasn’t sent by her directly, was it?
ㄴ Oh, suspecting the innocent, you naughty one~
ㄴ SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl: Just quietly watch the rain~
====
“Aaaah! You villain, you villain! You despicable fiend!!”
She had forgotten.
He was a monster who not only resides in the forum for 20 hours a day, but also uses his alt-accounts to do all sorts of things.
Even the most insidious mischief, which was useless against a simple block, would be promptly concealed or camouflaged as normalcy if he ever got caught.
Despite just joining the forum and having only dabbled in it for about a month, Mariel was on his radar.
====
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: What are you doing right now?!
— Administrator: What do you mean?
— SuperGeniusBlondeGirl: Stop live-streaming my funeral while I’m perfectly alive!! And get rid of those weird impersonating accounts quickly!!
— Administrator: Seems like it’s not me. But I’m busy right now, so take the block and do it yourself.
====
Huuaaang! Really, the worst! How could, how could someone… huh?”
Thud!
From deep within her chest, a genuine surge of heat rose up, and just as she was about to unleash a barrage of curses, she suddenly realized something.
There were several pairs of eyes watching her from behind the dark trees.
It could be other members of her alchemy class, but there was no reason for anyone to follow her while she was collecting herbs.
Chills ran down her spine from head to toe.
“Who’s there?”
“…”
“If you don’t want to reveal yourself, you can stay there, but I’ve been wandering around for quite a while. If you don’t come out soon, someone will definitely come looking for me.”
“…”
A brief moment that felt like eternity in silence.
“Tsk, I thought she lost her mind out of fear. It was all an act.”
Soon, a group of magicians revealed themselves from the darkness.
*
“Clark, where are you going at this hour?”
“The Dark Forest.”
I assembled the spear that had been separated into two pieces in the cleaning tool box.
As the spear handle was usually used for mopping, it was quite dirty as it had been used to scrape off the substances stuck to the floor, and the spearhead was used as a gum knife.
Since coming to the Magic Tower, there hadn’t been much need to put them together, but now it seemed necessary.
I didn’t know it would be such a difficult situation to solve with just my novice magic skills.
Each area of the Magic Tower is assigned an IP representing its coordinates.
In other words, you can see at a glance where users accessing the forum are using Witch Notes.
So when I checked the post Mariel had uploaded, the first thing that struck me as odd was that she was alone without any teammates, but there were others around her in the Dark Forest.
We had been chatting back and forth until a moment ago, so I thought it was okay, but even that communication was suddenly cut off.
I decided to go find Mariel for the sake of the safety of a candidate who had almost passed.
“W- Wait before you go…! When I heard that you had become an assistant of the Glesia School, I thought the world was ending!”
Agnes desperately tried to stop me using her round forehead.
It was because her disciple, whom she had brought into the Magic Tower, suddenly had his name listed in one of the most prominent schools, without any consultation.
Perhaps even giving it to someone who has diligently sown for five years won’t be enough, and there’s the fear that the dormitory, which has been a warm sanctuary so far, might no longer be accessible.
To leave, I had to reassure her first.
“Don’t worry so much; I have no intention of going to the Glesia School. They don’t particularly want me there.”
“Lies won’t work! I heard that girl, Vina, ordered the ice machine in the dormitory to be moved to the Secret Garden Floor!”
No wonder the codes for the ice machines around the magic elevator were missing.
What kind of strange things are they doing behind my back?
“Heh, it was my plan from the beginning… I even generously applied the bait, but it’s gone…! Now that everyone knows your talent, what should I do…!”
Well, is talent that could make you a wanted person on the continent?
There was no chance I would move to Glesia or anywhere else.
I never had any intention of joining a large school with abundant support, and above all, I thought the ‘Mystery’ of the Haeju School suited me best.
“Come on, since I’m not going anywhere, relax and lie down on the bed. You said you grow taller if you sleep early, right?”
“Oh, it’s already ten o’clock…?”
Agnes, who had to go to bed at ten o’clock because of the aftereffects of the curse, lowered her head.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to see it from upstairs soon.”
“Hmm, really…?”
Despite that, seeing her desperately trying to hold onto her consciousness, I turned off the lights and reassured her.
“Yes, while I’m at it, I’ll engrave my name on the Monument Stone and come back.”
