Chapter 150: Exemplary Punishment

Golden got up, returned to bed, pulled the blanket up to his chin, and stared at the ceiling until sleep came. It took a while.

The day came like every other day there, with a loud bell ringing and waking up the entire dormitory.

Golden got up, did his morning hygiene, opened the bedroom door, and left without looking at the body sprawled on the floor. He had decided to ignore it. He had decided to think about anything else.

It didn’t work.

’What are the odds that Japanese guy is a Gamer?’

’And what exactly would that explain?’

The list of possibilities wasn’t that long, but Golden didn’t want to make it a priority in his thoughts. He had heard so much bullshit that night, and in far too much detail for it to be just a joke. He also wanted to believe Haru was simply drunk and having fun.

But nobody in their right mind made jokes like that.

Saying you were a Gamer was dangerous.

Very dangerous.

He had probably told him all that because he thought he was talking to Flavius.

’First the dragon scale. Now this.’

’When you find the one who shouldn’t be here, give this to him.’

Golden sighed.

"Ah, fuck it."

Minutes later, Golden was already at the activity grounds, and everyone around him was doing their assigned tasks.

His job was to water the trees in a specific area. He wasn’t a gardener. He didn’t take care of them or prune them. He simply walked around with the watering can tilted, pouring water until he’d finished all the trees in that section.

Compared to the other activities, it was good.

Working in the cafeteria, for example, was the one that everyone he knew—and everyone he’d heard about—hated.

But it still wasn’t actually good.

Golden didn’t know Water Magic. Mastering two elements was already difficult, especially for someone whose dominant element was lightning. Lightning and water were practically opposites, almost enemies. If he knew Water Magic, he wouldn’t have to fetch water, come back, water the trees, and go again all day.

Still, he was thinking about asking to make the activity permanent. He didn’t know what the next one would be, but anything could be worse.

Imagine getting assigned "Sweep the Jingone Tree."

That was the activity even the cleaners refused to do.

Speaking of cleaners...

"You."

Golden turned around.

The head of the cleaners was standing behind him, wearing a clean orange uniform, his expression more serious than Golden had ever seen it.

And beside him, more discreetly, stood a man in a white habit.

A Saint.

Young in age, his hands folded in front of his body, his gaze far too calm to actually be calm.

The protocol officer responsible for the male wing.

’Fuck.’

Everyone knew Saints dealt with Gamers.

"You’re Haru Mizuki’s roommate, aren’t you?" The Saint asked.

His voice was calm. There was no threat in it.

And that was precisely why it felt heavier.

Golden had never spoken to the person responsible for the male wing in his entire life.

If he was here, it was serious.

Golden sighed.

"I am."

"Where is he?" the old head of the cleaners asked.

"Is there a problem?"

The Saint tilted his head.

"Hmm." He made the sound slowly. "You’re defending something that cannot be defended. You’re hiding something, Golden."

The watering can in Golden’s hands was empty.

The last drop trickled out and fell into the soil.

Golden looked at the watering can.

Then he carefully placed it on the ground.

’Whatever it is, I don’t want to get involved in the shit Haru caused.’

’I already have enough bad luck.’

But the head of the cleaners was looking at him, and there was something strange in his eyes.

It wasn’t accusation.

It was almost a plea.

As if he were saying, ’I didn’t want to be here doing this either.’

Golden didn’t know whether it was pity or complicity.

It was never his job to read other people’s expressions, so he didn’t care.

"Come." He finally said. "I’ll take you."

He walked ahead.

The other two followed behind, their footsteps silent. The head of the cleaners kept his hands in his pockets, his head lowered.

’What the hell am I doing?’

’I’m turning the guy in.’

’He deserved it for being stupid.’

’He deserved it for leaving the window open.’

’But he didn’t turn me in when he could have.’

Golden clenched his jaw and kept walking.

They reached the room.

On the other side of the door, Haru was asleep.

Naked, on the floor, between the two beds.

Wet with water and something that was better left unidentified.

One of his eyes was bruised from Golden’s punch, and his mouth was still slightly open, snoring softly.

The wine bottle was still unopened on the bed.

His uniform lay in a corner.

Through the closed window, a thin ray of sunlight fell directly onto his face.

Haru didn’t wake up.

But he was still talking.

Quietly, eyes closed, the words coming out on their own in a sequence nobody had asked for:

"The system..."

Silence.

"The system... came back?"

Silence.

"No... I don’t want to kill... anyone... let me sleep."

The bedroom door slowly opened.

Golden entered first, without looking down.

Then the head of the cleaners.

Then the Saint responsible for the male wing, walking lightly, almost without making a sound, his white habit brushing against the floor.

The Saint stopped.

Haru’s body was already visible from the doorway.

He walked a little farther and stopped, looking at his face.

He listened.

"Squad..." Haru murmured, rolling onto his side. "Spawn Point... Genius... man, the pact... gotta hack the baron... he’s just a mere NPC..."

The Saint didn’t move.

Behind him, the head of the cleaners closed his eyes for a second.

Golden stared at his own foot as if he’d just discovered that it was the most interesting thing in the room.

"Interesting." The Saint said.

One word.

Calm.

Light.

Almost polite.

It was more frightening than any scream.

Haru, still unconscious, smiled in his sleep. He whispered something with the satisfaction of someone confessing a wonderful secret to a pillow.

"I am..." He paused. "Hehehe."

Before he could finish the sentence, the Saint had already raised his hand.

A magic circle appeared around Haru, glowing intensely and quickly. The kind that wasn’t meant to hurt.

Only interrupt.

Haru suddenly woke up, gasping.

"I’m awake!"

When he looked around, he was naked.

Wet.

And standing there were the Saint, Golden, and the head of the cleaners.

Nobody was smiling.

"Oooh." Haru said, slowly processing the situation.

...

Moments later, Golden was eating in the cafeteria when the rumors started circulating.

"A guy got caught drunk in his room." Someone said at the table beside him. "From the male wing."

The men spread the secret among the men.

The secret reached the women too, but differently. They knew something had happened, but they didn’t know who.

The men knew.

It was as if they were protecting one another.

For now, of course.

Because sooner or later, they would discover who the student was.

The rumors were already saying he was at risk of expulsion.

The second-years had already been through this before, losing dormitory classmates because of alcohol.

And to make matters worse, Haru, compared to the students who had been expelled before, was already displaying this kind of behavior before the actual classes had even begun.

Brave, or stupid, to act like this so early, before things had even started getting serious.

’Maybe it’s because he’s a Gamer.’ Golden thought, chewing slowly.

...

’Maybe it’s because I’m a Gamer.’ Haru thought, when the Saint responsible for the male wing asked him why he had done it.

He didn’t know where he got so much courage to not be afraid.

Maybe that was precisely it.

Being a Gamer.

That was where all his courage came from, even knowing that this was a chance given by Goddess Chronia, and that she probably deserved a damn handjob for giving someone like him a chance.

Even so, despite already seeing this world as real, Haru still felt like a Gamer.

’After all, I’m a Gamer...’

A player.

Except he was the player in first person.

And he could actually die.

Haru, with a fucking terrible hangover, obviously couldn’t say that out loud.

He simply lowered his head, showing genuine remorse, at least in part.

After all, drinking until he passed out hadn’t been part of the plan, and he didn’t even remember how he’d reached that point.

’Alcohol isn’t a friend.’

He noticed something in the middle of the lecture.

He was only seventeen.

And the adult standing in front of him knew that. He was reading Haru’s file while lecturing him.

And he hadn’t said anything about his age.

The guild receptionist hadn’t mentioned anything either.

’Pretty medieval world.’ He thought. ’Makes sense. Seventeen is already considered an adult here, compared to Earth, where it’s usually eighteen.’

And to make the comparison even worse, Genius was around sixteen and also drank without anyone questioning it.

’Fast little bastard.’ He thought about Genius, without giving it much importance.

Back on Earth, he had already experimented with alcohol in ways that, let’s say, weren’t exactly legal, paying homeless people to buy it and bring it to him.

Not every day, of course.

He did it when he wanted his solitary sessions to last longer.

But drinking alone had never been enjoyable.

On Earth, he spent most of his time in his room programming and creating things, without many friends to drink with.

Or to talk about other things...

Like hentai.

Maybe he didn’t really want much, as long as he had masturbation, food, and the internet, everything was fine...

Right?

"Haru Mizuki, of House Valtherion." The Saint said, finally breaking the silence. "You would be expelled."

Haru raised his head, his thoughts coming to a complete stop.

"Expelled!?"

"But it would be unfair to expel you before you’ve even read the regulations." The Saint continued calmly. "Better yet, I’ll assume that, since we haven’t read the dormitory regulations to you yet, you didn’t know this was prohibited."

Pause.

"So I’ll give you a punishment that will serve as an example to everyone. They will know from this moment onward that this is prohibited, even before the official regulations."

"Follow me." The person responsible for the male wing stood up and began walking.

Haru stood, his head throbbing hard enough for him to feel every heartbeat in his temples.

’Fuck. What the hell was I thinking, hehehe.’ He thought. ’I only remember fighting a gnome. Dwarf. Anão. Ah, fuck it.’

’I need Kira to get rid of this hangover.’

Moments later, they arrived at the punishment site.

’Ah, fuck it.’ Haru said, looking at the area.

"Yes." The Saint confirmed, satisfied with his reaction. "Your job is to take care of the stable, from cleaning up horse shit to feeding the horses, for seven days."

"I expect you to leave everything clean. I’ll return at noon."

The Saint left, his white habit swaying lightly with each step.

Haru remained standing there.

’It feels like I died and came back to the damn first Chapter of the NovelPhoenix... Life really does look like this shit.’

’Except there aren’t just a few horses this time.’

’There are a lot.’

The only consolation was that he’d worked here before.

After all, he had lived through more than five hundred deaths, which amounted to more than a year of accumulated time, and for a large portion of that time, he had been right here in the stable.

It had been his checkpoint in that old life.

He entered the stable, breathing in the familiar smell of hay and horses, and threw himself directly onto a pile of clean straw.

"I’m going to sleep a little longer before I clean everything." He thought. "I’m exhausted."

He closed his eyes.

Then opened them again.

She was there.

"Good to see you again, Mizuki." Chronia said, sitting on that same old stump, her posture relaxed, her hair falling over her shoulder, wearing that smile of someone who already knew everything before he even opened his mouth.